The social media giant seems determined not to find itself in the crosshairs from the invasion of Ukraine by Russia which has been condemned all over the world and sparked waves of demonstrations in most major cities.
Facebook, which renamed itself Meta Platforms (MVRS) last October, says it has taken down many Russian accounts that sought to spread misinformation against Ukraine on its platforms.
And more specifically, Facebook says it has detected a disinformation network running accounts, pages, groups, and communities targeting Ukraine on social media.
In its post about attacks against Ukraine, Facebook said that in the last 48 hours the company has uncovered a relatively small network of about 40 accounts, pages, and groups on Facebook and Instagram. They were operated from Russia and Ukraine and targeted people in Ukraine across multiple social media platforms and through their own websites.
Russia Will Limit Facebook Access During Ukraine Conflict, State Agency Says
Russian authorities plan to limit access to social media Facebook in retaliation for what they claim was a concerted push by the platform to censor its national media.
Reuters reports that Russia's official state communicator, Roskomnadzor, has threatened the ban after Facebook continued limiting access to certain state-sponsored news and website.
"In accordance with the decision of the General Prosecutor's Office, starting from Feb. 25, partial access restrictions are being imposed by Roskomnadzor on the Facebook social network," it said in a statement.
Facebook currently has restrictions on gazeta.ru, lenta,ru, Zvezda TV and the RIA agency. The Russian defense ministry runs Zvezda TV and Facebook has restricted the others.
Facebook said in a statement that it would continue to support users.
The Tech Heavyweights That Could Supercharge Russian Sanctions
The search for sanctions that could force Russia to reconsider its recent invasion of neighboring Ukraine ratcheted up on Thursday. Authorities are now looking at more blue-chip companies and the products they make to become fair game for American officials looking to crimp supplies.
Tech will be a major part of that effort, with everything from semiconductors (already in short supply globally) and international payment systems sitting firmly in the crosshairs of global regulators looking to pinch Russia's economy.
American markets have a distinct advantage when it comes to making chips for high-tech devices.
Home to behemoths like (AMD), Intel (INTC), and Nividia (NVDA), it is also the birthplace of nearly ubiquitous social media networks like (TWTR) and Facebook both of which have been used often and heavily to showcase other international unrest, including the Arab Spring. Internationally, chipmakers include Samsung (SSNLF) , (SMIC) , and (TSMC) , all of which are based in Taiwan or China.
That distribution highlights another pitfall of global sanctions for Russia: Taiwan is currently an ally of the U.S., while Chinese/Russian ties have remained strong for decades.
Apple, Google, Netflix Find Themselves in an Unenviable Situation
The three tech giants have a tough choice to make as rival Meta ramps up its efforts. This is a situation in which they would no doubt have preferred not to find themselves in, especially now that their response is awaited. It is a safe bet that whatever their reaction it will be strongly criticized.
In posts on Twitter, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called out Apple, Google, Youtube, and Netflix (NFLX) directly to ask them to either halt their activity in Russia or block accounts linked to Russians in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In the case of Apple, Fedorov also published on the social network a letter sent to CEO Tim Cook in which he asks him to stop supplying Russia with Apple products and services.
Fedorov also insists in the tweet revealing the mail that: "If you agree to have the president-killer, then you will have to be satisfied with the only site Russia 24." Russia 24 is a state-owned Russian news channel.
These requests come as Meta, formerly Facebook, said it was taking action against Russian entities on its platform. "We are taking additional steps in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine," wrote on Twitter Meta VP Global Affairs and former UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
The Headwinds Dragging Down Tech in 2022
Although the dramatic reversal in equities this past week could lead to a nice short-term rally, the truth is that there are still several headwinds that are likely going to continue weighing down tech stocks going forward.
Until we have more clarity about these issues, the tech sector could continue to be a very volatile area of the market. If you’re wondering why tech has been so weak this year, it's because of the headwinds that have been impacting the sector.
These factors include inflation pressures and questionable valuations.
While there are still plenty of question marks about tech stocks as we move further into 2022, investors that are looking for exposure to the sector could be in for some fantastic long-term buying opportunities going forward.
Many of the tech stocks that have faced heavy selling pressure will need time to find buyers again, but it’s difficult to bet against innovation for the long term.
Is Now the Right Time to Buy Big Tech Stocks?
If you go by contrarian indicators, now might be a good time to buy mega-cap technology stocks.
Among the top 100 actively-managed institutional-investor funds, Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Meta Platforms (MVRS), and Microsoft (MSFT) all are under-owned compared to their S&P 500 weightings, according to Morgan Stanley, as cited by Bloomberg.
Morgan Stanley analysts found that the funds on average are underweighted in the stocks by 0.8%. And they note that stocks with low institutional ownership generally rise in the next quarter, as investors react quickly to bullish news so they don’t lag gains by broad market indices.
Morgan Stanley isn’t the only one reporting that investors are going light on tech stocks. A Bank of America survey this month found that fund managers have the biggest underweighting of tech stocks since August 2006.
What's on Bank of America's Tech Stock List?
Bank of America has created a list of technology stocks with attractive features. Of course, tech stocks haven’t fared well lately. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has slid 14% year to date.
“BofA Client Flow data indicate that institutional clients were larger net sellers of tech stocks in January than in any other month over the past year,” BofA strategists, led by Savita Subramanian, wrote in a commentary. “But capitulation-like selling was far from evident. Our ownership data shows barely a budge in long-only tech relative positioning. Hedge funds and individuals have sold or covered short positions in tech, but this began middle to last year, rather than a 2022 trend.”
Among the stocks making the list are Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, networking giant Cisco Systems (CSCO), semiconductor companies Qualcomm (QCOM), Nividia and Applied Materials (AMAT), data management company Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), and information technology services firm Accenture (ACNV) .
Cathie Wood's Ark Keeps Buying Depressed Tech Stocks
Investment star Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Investment Management, is at it again, buying shares of beaten-down technology stocks, just as she promised.
This past week, Ark exchange-traded funds purchased shares of electric car titan Tesla (TSLA); Coinbase Global (COIN) , the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange; and Zoom Video Communications (ZOOM) , a video meeting service.
Tesla is the No. 1 holding in Ark’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK), Zoom is No. 4 and Coinbase is No. 5.
Here's a breakdown list of the technology and FAANG/MAMAA stocks to watch right now based on their performance over the past week:
Meta is working on training Artificial intelligence (AI) to learn and understand natural text using self-supervised learning. The company just dropped plans about a Project CAIRaoke, an end-to-end neuro model to build on-device assistance. This is the tech giant's latest effort to build its conversational AI capabilities to deliver better dialogue in the so-called metaverse or the immersive internet. The Facebook parent wants to create nuanced virtual worlds using voice. Facebook wants to be able to predict how a sentence might end in the metaverse.
It's hard to fathom that the Chinese short viral video app TikTok, which went international only four years back, is giving Facebook a run for its money. Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has teed up his focus on its own TikTok-like feature Reels and spoke about getting hammered by competition in his latest earnings call. Zuckerberg said competition from rival TikTok is having an impact on Meta's business.
TheStreet Quant Ratings rates Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) as a Buy with a rating score of B+.
Apple
When Apple began reopening stores in May 2020 early on in the Covid-19 pandemic, the computer giant told customers that "our stores will look a little different." On that day in May, Apple said that "nearly 100 of our stores globally have been able to open their doors to our customers again."
The iPhone maker had transformed its physical stores into fortresses during the pandemic, but Apple has dropped its mask mandates in most of its locations and is preparing for the return of in-person classes at its stores, according to Bloomberg.
TheStreet Quant Ratings rates Apple as a Buy with a rating score of A.
Netflix
Four years ago, Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings said the company's next 100 million subscribers would come from India. It hasn't worked out that way. Netflix and rival streaming giant Disney (DIS) have both struggled to gain traction in the world's second-most populous country. "The great news is in every single other major market, we've got the flywheel spinning. The thing that frustrates us is why haven't we been as successful in India. But we're definitely leaning in there," said Hastings on a recent earnings call.
The paid subscriber market in India is set to grow 51% to hit 90-100 million users this year, driven by cheaper data plans and increasing Internet adoption, as reported by Indian news website Livemint. For streaming giants like Netflix and Disney success in India has become critical, especially since they've been shut out of China. "I think we're quite bullish that India isn't fundamentally different in some way that we can't figure out how to tailor our service offering to be attractive to Indian consumers who love entertainment," added Peters.
TheStreet Quant Ratings rates Netflix as a Hold with a rating score of C.
eBay
In the online commerce war, we tend to forget about eBay (EBAY). Admittedly, the Californian platform is no longer the setting it was a long time ago, but the firm is not completely out of touch. Amazon, Walmart (WMT), and even Target (TGT) no doubt offer services, such as Amazon's Prime, but eBay has not yet said its last word.
eBay has taken advantage of the big boost given by the pandemic to reposition itself. The company now wants to be seen as the anti-Amazon and the anti-Walmart. Basically, a niche and selective platform with a clear identity. The platform wants to be the marketplace of sneakers, luxury watches, handbags, accessories, collectibles, and motor parts. In a word, a place where consumers come because they know they will be able to find something special there.
TheStreet Quant Ratings rates eBay as a Hold with a rating score of C.
Amazon
Does Amazon not want to consolidate? While there are no easy answers to this question, the numbers on tech and retail giant Amazon's latest annual report seem to suggest that the company is not on a buying spree. For the sake of comparison, $496 million is 0.36% of Amazon's latest quarterly revenue of $137.4 billion. But it's more complicated than that.
The Seattle tech giant spent $496 million on acquisitions last year, down from $1.2 billion in 2020. However, the official number that Amazon shopped for according to Dealogic data is $15.7 billion across 29 deals. The number was cited in a GeekWire report. Amazon's announced merger and acquisition deals aren't accounted for as expenses until the deal has closed which is subject to regulatory and shareholders approvals. In March 2021, Amazon's Prime Video won the right to carry Thursday night NFL football games for 10 years, starting in 2023.
TheStreet Quant Ratings rates Amazon as a Buy with a rating score of B-.
Activision Blizzard
Once one of the game industry's most beloved publishers, Activision Blizzard (ATVI) has fallen from grace in a major way over the last year--and it just keeps on tumbling. Its latest bit of bad press comes from two new lawsuits. The first was filed in California by shareholder Kyle Watson in reaction to its upcoming sale to Microsoft and a second was filed (uploaded by Polygon) by shareholder Shiva Stein on Feb. 25.
Watson's lawsuit (also uploaded by Polygon) makes some claims that will sound awfully familiar to anyone keeping up with Activision Blizzard's issues over the last year: Accusing that the board is seeking to “procure for themselves and senior management [...] significant and immediate benefits" and calling the future sale "unfair for a number of reasons."
TheStreet Quant Ratings rates Activision Blizzard as a Buy with a rating score of B.
Samsung
It's looking like more money equals more problems for Samsung (SSNLF) . The South Korean electronics maker posted record-breaking revenue of $233 billion in 2021, an 18% increase over the previous year. The company saw its net profit increase more than 50%. And now the employees that helped make 2021 such a successful year for Samsung want a bigger piece of the pie.
Samsung's South Korea-based employees, who represent about half of the company's 270,000-person global headcount, are seeking higher wages, the Wall Street Journal reported citing internal communications, current and former employees. The workers are seeking a nearly 16% raise, which would be the largest base-salary bump in the company's history. The employee negotiations come at a crucial time for the company as it works hard to battle Apple for smartphone market share.
TheStreet Quant Ratings does not have a rating for Samsung.
Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) shares jumped higher this past week after the company posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings and a robust outlook for its cybersecurity products following a record year for data breaches in the United States. Palo Alto said non-GAAP earnings for the three months ending in January, its fiscal second quarter, rose 12.2% to $1.74 per share, while revenues jumped more than 30% to $1.3 billion.
Around a quarter of the revenue's tally came from new product sales, which were up 21% from last year, while subscription and services revenues rose 32% to just over $1 billion. Overall demand for its firewall products and security applications should take current quarter sales as high as $1.365 billion, the group said, with full-year revenues in the region of $5.425 billion to $5.475 billion
TheStreet Quant Ratings rates Palo Alto Networks as a Sell with a rating score of D.
Between Web3, NFTs, the blockchain, and the metaverse, tech companies have a lot of work to do to bring the next generation of technology into the fold. Now Alphabet's Google (GOOGL) is stepping up with a new training push. It has created a program that is available to anyone and no college degree is required, Google said. The company says 75% of graduates report seeing a positive impact on their career within six months. Filling tech job openings has become more challenging as a high barrier to entry has led to increased pay and other incentives to attract talent.
U.S. tech salaries rose to a record high of $104,566 in 2021, according to a recently released Tech Salary Report which surveyed more than 7,200 tech professionals between Aug. 10 and Oct. 10, 2021.Web developers saw the biggest increase at more than 21% to $98,912. And while Silicon Valley is still the leading tech hub of the country with tech jobs on average paying $133,204 annually, cities like Seattle, New York City, Boston and San Diego are seeing an influx of people looking for increasingly lucrative tech work.
TheStreet Quant Ratings rates Alphabet as a Buy with a rating score of A.
