A turbulent 2022 is drawing close to an end. We might as well start looking back at Apple stock’s (AAPL) – Get Free Report performance in the past 11 and a half months. Today, I check out the returns of the Cupertino company’s shares against those of its key Big Tech peers.
Before diving in, maybe we can start with a quick teaser:
Pop quiz: as 2022 draws close to an end, how do you think Apple stock has performed relative to the other FAAMG Big Tech names? Don’t look at a graph just yet…
See also: How Apple’s Supply Chain Has Transformed Since 2019
Apple Stock: Relative Winner
The chart below, provided by Stock Rover, summarizes the performance of Apple stock in 2022 so far (navy blue line), as of midday December 12. Notice that, relative to the other four “usual suspects” in Big Tech, AAPL has performed substantially better.
Figure 1: Big Tech performance year-to-date.
Stock Rover
On average, Amazon (AMZN) – Get Free Report, Microsoft (MSFT) – Get Free Report, Alphabet (GOOGL) – Get Free Report and Meta (META) – Get Free Report have returned about -43% in 2022 – that’s right, a negative number. Apple stock, on the other hand, has dipped a much more modest 19%.
The gap between AAPL and the rest of Big Tech in 2022 has been a sizable 25 percentage points, approximately. On a relative basis, therefore, Apple has been a great stock to invest in – especially considering the Nasdaq’s 29% loss YTD.
Speaking of the broader stock index, finding absolute winners among tech names this year has been nearly impossible. Enphase Energy is a rare example, up a whopping 119%, but the rally can be very specifically traced to the strength in the clean energy space.
Other tech names that are still in the green or close enough to it in 2022 tend to be blue chip, slower-growth names like IBM (IBM) – Get Free Report and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) – Get Free Report.
See also: Apple Stock, Up 370,000%? Yes, It Has Happened
Why AAPL Has Outperformed
There isn’t one single reason why Apple stock has done so much better than its peers in 2022. The list below is certainly not all-inclusive, but it gives the reader a good idea of the main drivers:
- Demand for Apple products and services has been on fire. Therefore, the stock became a conservative bet in a period of high inflation and possible deterioration in consumer spending and sentiment.
- Whether justifiable or not, Apple has been considered more resilient than most companies to rising prices – that is, the stock has earned the status of “inflation play”.
- Compared to some peers, like Amazon, Apple is considered a slower growth company, but with more robust business fundamentals. The current year has not been favorable to growth stocks, much more so to “boring” tech blue chips.
- Many of Apple’s peers have had company-specific issues that have taken a swipe at their stock prices. For instance, Meta has fallen victim to skepticism towards the company’s sudden pivot to the metaverse. Apple has not taken any meaningful strategic missteps in the past many months.
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(Disclaimers: this is not investment advice. The author may be long one or more stocks mentioned in this report. Also, the article may contain affiliate links. These partnerships do not influence editorial content. Thanks for supporting the Apple Maven)
