The COVID-19 pandemic has treated the FAANG stocks quite well thanks to the accelerated pace of digitization and internet adoption worldwide that it triggered. Both Apple (AAPL) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) skyrocketed last year due to the suitability of their offerings. And because remote activities are expected to continue even in the post-pandemic world, and both the tech giants are constantly innovating to stay ahead of their competitors, we think their stocks are solid long-term investments. However, let’s discuss which stock could perform better this year.Technology stocks have ruled the last two decades. The major tech companies began the internet decade as start-ups and have grown to multi-trillion-dollar valuations. Over the last few years, the FAANG stocks have risen to prominence. The acronym FAANG stands for Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), and Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL). These companies have ascended to unprecedented market-cap heights on the back of their sound business models, strong earnings, and market dominance.
AAPL and GOOGL have performed exceptionally well over the past year. They have upgraded and expanded their offerings to meet changing consumer demand amid the pandemic and to facilitate the “new normal” way of living and working. Though many investors are now shifting away from expensive tech stocks to quality non-tech stocks that are expected to thrive with the economic recovery, the current wave of artificial intelligence (AI), 5G network, cloud computing and virtual reality products has the potential to be revolutionary in coming years and help the FAANG stocks keep advancing.
While the demand for AAPL’s next generation products and services over the years has been impressive, GOOGL has been at the forefront of shaping the future with its search services and cloud-based offerings. Both stocks have generated significant returns over the past 10 years. While AAPL returned 965.8% over this period, GOOGL has gained 777.7%. However, in terms of year-to-date performance, GOOGL is a clear winner with 33.7% returns versus AAPL’s negative returns.