U.S. equities are under mixed pressure on Tuesday as disappointing earnings results, fears over the success of U.S.-China trade talks and the start of border wall talks between President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dampen enthusiasm for tech stocks.
The Nasdaq Composite is holding with a loss of 0.7%, while large-cap stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average are holding with a small gain. Keep an eye on the Technology Select SPDR (NYSEARCA:XLK), which is threatening to fall down below its 50-day moving average, which is continuing to fall.
With heavy hitters like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) reporting this week, watch for an ongoing focus on the tech sector — and thus, more profit taking as top- and bottom-line growth slows amid macroeconomic headwinds. Here are five large-cap tech stocks to watch:
Amazon (AMZN)
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares are mired in a weakening trading range between their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Watch for a downside break here, which will set up a retest of the late December lows near $1,350, which would be worth a loss of nearly 16% from current levels.
The company will next report results on Jan. 31, after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of $5.57 per share on revenues of $71.6 billion. When the company last reported on Oct. 25, earnings of $5.75 per share beat estimates by $2.66 per share on a 29.3% rise in revenues.
Nvidia (NVDA)
Hit by weak results from competitor Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), as well as specific headwinds, including falling GPU demand from cryptocurrency mining rigs, has pushed Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares back down below their 50-day moving average to retest the lows seen in late December. Analyst downgrades have been coming in as well, with Needham analysts warning that the company will be dragged lower by the slowdown in the Chinese economy.
The company will next report results on Feb. 14 after the close. Analysts are looking at earnings of $1.40 per share on revenues of $2.7 billion. When the company last reported on Nov. 15, earnings of $1.84 per share missed estimates by 8 cents on a 20.7% rise in revenues.
Facebook (FB)
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) shares are rolling over again here, threatening to fall back below their 20-day moving average as investors continue to feel with greater conviction that the company’s greatest days are behind it amid growing popular anger towards the platform on accusations of political bias, privacy violations and more.
The company will next report results on Jan. 30 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of $2.17 per share on revenues of $16.4 billion. When the company last reported on Oct. 30, earnings of $1.76 per share beat estimates by 32 cents on a 32.9% rise in revenues.
Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares are rolling over again after hitting resistance from the downtrend channel that started in early October, as the bulls abandon what was an upside momentum favorite throughout much of 2018. Ahead of reporting results, analysts at BMO recommend keeping an eye on Azure revenue growth as the cloud remains the company’s key growth area.
The company will next report results on Jan. 30 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of $1.09 per share on revenues of $32.5 billion. When the company last reported results on Oct. 24, earnings of $1.14 per share beat estimates by 18 cents on a 18.5% rise in revenues.
Twitter (TWTR)
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) shares are on the slide again, cutting through their 50-day and 20-day moving averages in one fell swoop on Tuesday, after once again bonking their head on overhead resistance at the 200-day moving average — remaining mired within a sideways trading range going back to July.
The company will next report results on Feb. 7 before the bell. Analysts are looking for earnings of 25 cents per share on revenues of $871.6 million. When results were last reported on Oct. 25, earnings of 21 cents per share beat estimates by 7 cents on a 28.5% rise in revenues.
