It was a week to forget for many investors, especially those with portfolios heavy on the tech side. Earlier this week, big tech companies combined to lose more than $1 trillion in value in just three days, according to CNBC—a list that includes Microsoft, Tesla, Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia, and Meta Platforms. This week wasn’t pretty for crypto investors, either.
But things may be looking up as we head into the weekend, as some tech stocks are popping to end the week. Overall, the Nasdaq Composite gained around 4% on Friday, lifted by a number of tech companies that reported stronger-than-expected earnings, and other things. Likewise, the S&P 500 was up almost 2.5%—a much-needed sign of strength as it’s down more than 16% year-to-date.
Here’s how some big tech stocks are faring during intraday trading as of early Friday afternoon:
Duolingo (DUOL)
Language-learning platform Duolingo’s shares are trending higher today following an expectations-beating Q1 earnings report. That report showed the company lost $12.2 million during the quarter—less than expected—and that total bookings increased 55% year-over-year. That prompted Duolingo shares to jump from less than $80 to more than $93.
Robinhood (HOOD)
Digital stock-trading platform Robinhood likewise saw a significant increase in share value, as its stock price jumped around 25%, and is trading at around $10.68. The stock is gaining steam following news that the CEO of crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, took a 7.6% stake in the company.
Affirm (AFRM)
Affirm shares also popped around 30% today, as its latest earnings report showed that the company beat revenue forecasts and that it grew its active consumer count by 137%. The company, which employs a “buy now, pay later” business model, also announced that it’s extending its partnership with Shopify—something else investors were likely happy to hear.
Toast (TOST)
Toast, a growing payments platform designed for use in restaurants, is similarly benefiting from a strong earnings report, which showed it added 5,000 new locations during the first quarter, and that revenues are growing while net losses were down significantly year-over-year. Toast shares are up around 12%.
Tesla (TSLA)
The electric vehicle company’s shares are trading 7% higher today, largely because Elon Musk announced that he was temporarily putting his deal to buy Twitter on hold. The issue? Musk wants to find out just how many Twitter accounts are fake, and as such, is putting the deal on ice until more details emerge. That, evidently, was enough to boost Tesla shares.
Cratering: Twitter (TWTR)
Conversely, Twitter shares are cratering following the Musk news. Shares fell off a cliff during early trading, and haven’t clawed much of those losses back. Twitter shares were down almost 20%, but as of the time of writing, were down around 10%.
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