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Following a chaotic day on the stock markets, some of the biggest names in tech have plunged in value because of coronavirus uncertainty.
While nations around the world come to terms with many people’s lives being upended by the coronavirus outbreak, the biggest names in tech have also seen massive hits to their valuations.
Yesterday (9 March) marked one of the worst days for stock markets since the crash of 2008, with big tech among some of the noticeable victims. According to CNBC, the five most valuable US tech companies lost a combined value of $321.6bn.
Apple’s represented almost one-third of this amount, bleeding $97bn and seeing shares plunge by 7.9pc. Elsewhere, Alphabet saw its shares drop by 6pc, and Amazon’s fell by 5.3pc. In February, Apple said in a statement that the company is “fundamentally strong” and that this disruption will be “only temporary”.
Tesla, meanwhile, saw one of the biggest plunges, with an almost 14pc drop in shares yesterday.
Tesla slow-down
The Covid-19 outbreak has severely disrupted the electric vehicle producer in China, where its Shanghai plant has had to temporarily close, while its stores nationwide also remain closed.
In a note to investors, Dan Ives of the wealth management firm Wedbush Securities said that 2020 will be a difficult year for Tesla.
“Supply chain issues in China remain a lingering worry,” he said. “Given the demand overhang from the coronavirus outbreak in China as well as Europe, we believe that first quarter unit demand levels will be difficult to hit for Tesla.”
The biggest drop seen among tech companies was IT services firm DXC, which saw its shares plummet by 18pc.
Many of the tech sector’s biggest events of the year have been postponed or cancelled altogether as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. While Mobile World Congress was one of the first major cancellations last month, Google, Facebook and others have also either pulled out from trade events or postponed their own annual events.
