Facebook Gains for Sixth Day as Most FAANG Stocks Rise Again

(Bloomberg) -- Major technology and Internet stocks rose on Tuesday, with the group extending a recent advance as analysts downplayed the potential impact of antitrust regulation to both Facebook Inc. and Google-parent Alphabet Inc.

Facebook rose as much as 3% after MoffettNathanson upgraded the stock to buy, writing that “improving underlying fundamentals” and new growth opportunities would offset “the risk of greater regulatory scrutiny.”

The stock was on track for its sixth straight gain, its longest such streak since May 2018. Shares have gained as much as 9.6% over the six-day advance.

Alphabet rose as much 2% on the day, though it pared much of that advance and last traded up 0.4% in its fourth positive session in a row.

Earlier, Needham analyst Laura Martin wrote that Alphabet shares were “too cheap” following a recent “overdone” decline that was in part fueled by concerns over antitrust regulation.

Both Facebook and Alphabet are part of the so-called group of FAANG stocks, a group of five mega-cap technology-related names. Among the others in the quintet, Apple Inc. rose 0.7% in its sixth straight advance.

Amazon.com Inc. was also up marginally for its sixth trading day in a row; the rally represented the stock’s longest since a seven-day gain that ended in September.

The fifth component, Netflix Inc., was down 0.8% in its second straight negative session.

The broader market was largely unchanged on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 Information Technology sector fell 0.3%. The decline comes after a five-day gain.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Vlastelica in New York at rvlastelica1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Jennifer Bissell-Linsk, Morwenna Coniam

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.