Amazon, Intel Earnings Boost Tech Momentum in Post-Market Surge

(Bloomberg) -- It appears that the reports of tech stocks’ demise have been grossly exaggerated.

Shares in the biggest exchange-traded fund tracking the industry surged after hours following blowout earnings reports from heavyweights Amazon.com and Intel. The PowerShares QQQ Trust rose 1.4 percent post-market, following a 2.1 percent gain during the regular session fueled by Facebook and AMD results.

It’s the latest show of tech resilience after the reporting season started out on a sour note, with concerns over Google’s spending plans sparking a selloff Tuesday that erased $85 billion of market value from the FANG complex of stocks. That loss was completely reversed two days later after Facebook’s results showed no signs of damage from a data privacy controversy.

Now investors look to be in for another day of strong gains, with robust results from Amazon.com and Intel lifting their shares at least 6 percent after exchanges closed.

Amazon.com forecast second-quarter profit that topped analysts’ forecasts, buoyed by swelling ranks of Prime subscribers and a profitable cloud-computing division that’s winning more corporate customers. Its shares were trading above their record-high closing price during the post-market session. Intel gave a better-than-projected second-quarter sales forecast, proving that for now the computer industry just can’t quit its products. It gained more than 8 percent post-market.

The FANG block of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google’s parent Alphabet, added almost $87 billion in market capitalization during Thursday’s trading session. That total worth created was the third highest for the group since Facebook went public in May 2012.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lu Wang in New York at lwang8@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arie Shapira at ashapira3@bloomberg.net, Richard Richtmyer, Jeremy Herron

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