Any modern business owner knows there are lots of things to stay on top of to succeed. Efficient marketing, for example, is vital to inform people about you as a business and what you have to offer. In addition, finances are a top priority for all entrepreneurs, and strategic planning in this area is a must for stimulating organic growth.
With this in mind, many businesses choose to invest some of their profits to generate more income. Opting to do this also opens up another revenue stream and means you have something to fall back on if your primary source of income falters. While there are a few ways entrepreneurs could invest, trading on the stock market is prevalent.
A brief look at the figures involved shows why. The current market size of the New York Stock Exchange is $24.4trn, and other big stock exchanges around the globe also have colossal market capitalization figures. This makes them attractive to investors as there are plenty of opportunities to find good trades, providing a decent return over time.
What you invest in and where you invest is vital
As with anything that involves money, you should know what you are getting into before investing in stocks. To begin with, it is essential to choose carefully with which online broker to place trades. As this Rakuten trade review shows, taking the time to check out any broker before signing up with them is advisable. If you need a trustworthy and fast way to get information like this, the AskTraders website is the best place online to visit.
The next thing is to think about what kind of shares you will put money into. For many, the most appealing stocks to invest in still are known as the FAANG stocks.
FAANG is an acronym for a group of stocks in the tech sector. It is made up of Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Netflix (NFLX), and Google (GOOG). The individual companies which make up FAANG stocks have a combined market cap of around $5.6trn and are household names.
But why do entrepreneurs love to invest in these stocks? The simple answer is their excellent track records regarding returns and the leading position they have in their sector. Although finding ways for your business to save money is important, finding ways to make some with stocks like FAANG is also crucial.
But what is the story behind the individual FAANG companies?
This tech behemoth was set up in 2004 by Harvard students Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Chris Hughes, and Dustin Moskovitz. Facebook is now a social media giant with around 2.8 billion monthly users and connects people all over the planet.
In terms of investment, it has performed very well on the stock market over recent years. This saw Facebook shares closing in January 2020 at a record high of $218.30, beating the previous high of $217.50 in July 2018. 2021 has been excellent for these stocks so far, and prices hit a new record high of $308.91 recently.
Amazon
Amazon is another FAANG stock with a rich history and an industry-leading position. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, it is now thought this e-commerce icon has more than 120 million products to buy on its site and over 150 million active users in the US alone. As well as its main e-commerce site, this tech leader has also invested in Amazon Web Services, AI, and TV/movie streaming (via Amazon Prime).
As one of the world’s most valuable companies, Amazon’s history in the stock market is attractive. In April 2021, for example, its share price shot up by 2.4% to a record high of $3,554. Keen investors will note that July 2020 saw Amazon shares reaching similar levels, proving its excellent track record.
Apple
Apple is the FAANG company with the longest history, being founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Wozniak. It sells arguably the world’s most popular smartphone in the iPhone, the iPad tablet, and the Apple Mac laptop. In August 2018, Apple was the first US business that traded publicly to be worth more than $1trn. A few years later, it was worth more than $2 trn and sold 1.65 billion products worldwide.
Apple’s history in the stock market shows some fine moments – and not just its incredible performance in the last few years. Summer 2007 was a big step for Apple, as its price rose 15.9% in July to $141.43 on the back of the iPhone’s launch. The iPad launch was also a critical moment, and the share prices rose to $341.19 in 2011, a year after its 2010 release date.
Netflix
Another of the FAANG stocks to know about is Netflix. The digital content streaming service enables people to access movies and TV shows on-demand in their homes. As well as offering online streaming of external shows/movies, it moved into producing in-house content as of 2012. It is now thought to have over 200 million worldwide subscribers and a truly global reach. This has also seen it ranked as the top media/entertainment company by market capitalization in 2020.
Netflix has also had some memorable moments in terms of stock market performance. Perhaps the most iconic was being the top stock in the S&P 500 during the entire 2010s! It brought investors a return of 3,693% over the whole ten years. This success has continued, with a record price of 586.34 being set in January 2021.
Although first set up in 1998, Google is now officially part of the Alphabet Inc group (with a market cap of $852bn), most people still like to stick to the FAANG acronym. In terms of Google specifically, we all know it for the industry-leading search engine it delivers and its presence in the paid online ads/digital marketing space. As with other FAANG stocks, it has built its success on diversifying into many other areas. There are, for example, email (Gmail) and translation services (Google Translate). It also owns several well-known websites like YouTube and Blogger.
Google has performed well on average in terms of its share price. Starting at $85 per share in August 2004, it split its stock in 2014 and eventually rose to a price of $1,214. This was eclipsed in early 2020 when a price of $1,532.11 was set. As you would expect, this FAANG stock has also been riding high recently and rose to a price of $2,564.74 in July 2021.
FAANG stocks are popular for a reason
There really is no secret as to why these shares are popular with investors when you learn more about them. Not only do they have an excellent track record in terms of returns over a long period, but they also look likely to continue this in the future. As society becomes ever more tech-centric and these companies carry on innovating, it is hard to see their success ending anytime soon.
