Every high-profile technology stock in the group except Netflix is set to report earnings in coming days. Alphabet will report on Tuesday, Apple and Facebook on Wednesday and Amazon on Thursday.
Netflix’s post-earnings drop raised some concerns about how FAANG would fare this earnings season, but analysts are selectively bullish, with JPMorgan on Thursday calling Amazon its “favorite FANG name into 1Q earnings.”
Two names are worth watching from a fundamental perspective, trader Michael Bapis told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Thursday.
“Two of the companies that are probably most well-positioned from an earnings growth standpoint and a revenue growth standpoint are Amazon and Apple,” said Bapis, managing director of Vios Advisors at Rockefeller Capital Management.
“You see Amazon trucks everywhere. They’re dominating the market. They’re innovating every day,” he said. “There are Apple products in everybody’s households everywhere. … Each generation has some Apple device. So, I think during this tech revolution we’re in right now, you’re going to see these two companies dominate.”
He suggested using Apple’s latest dip as a buying opportunity. The stock closed down more than 1% on Thursday at $131.94 a share.
Two other names have a stronger technical setup, MKM Partners chief market technician JC O’Hara said in the same interview.
“Three out of those five stocks have been dead money since last August,” he said. “If you look at the charts, they basically have consolidated within a range. If we’re in a global bull market, I want to be in leadership. I want to be in stocks that are breaking higher.”
Of the FAANG stocks, “that leaves us with Facebook and Alphabet,” said O’Hara.
“When I dive into those two names, I think Facebook offers an attractive entry point right here,” he said. “It pulled back right to the old breakout spot, which to me says everybody who missed the initial breakout, we have a second opportunity right here to jump back in.”
