Technology
Charts: Visualizing the Bear Market in FAANG Stocks
Visualizing the Bear Market in FAANG Stocks
The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.
What goes up, must come down.
Over recent years, there hasn’t been a safer bet than big tech – specifically the FAANG stocks, which include Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google’s parent company Alphabet.
But in the financial world, this feeling of euphoria can be turned upside-down very quickly.
Since the summer, the five tech giants combined have lost close to $1 trillion in market capitalization from their peaks. Now the FAANG stocks have officially slipped into a bear market, with investors blaming rising interest rates, slumping sales forecasts, possible government intervention, and bubble-like valuations as reasons for the reversal in fortune.
The Damage Done
The generally accepted definition of a bear market is a 20% or greater decline from recent market highs.
Facebook and Netflix have been in bear territory for months, but the remaining members of FAANG only just recently capitulated. Apple was the last to go – but with -24% in lost value since its peak on October 3, it is now in trouble as well.
Company | Peak valuation ($B) | Current valuation ($B) | Difference ($B) |
---|---|---|---|
Apple | $1,103 | $839 | $264 |
Amazon | $982 | $750 | $232 |
$628 | $385 | $243 | |
Alphabet | $894 | $722 | $172 |
Netflix | $182 | $115 | $67 |
Total | $3,789 | $2,811 | $978 |
Data based on publication time on Nov 23, 2018
Interestingly, this is the first time that the FAANG stocks have been in a bear market together, meaning this is uncharted territory for big tech and the wider market as a whole.
After the Gold Rush
While FAANG represents a small fraction of tech stocks available on the market, they do make up a significant percent of indices like the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq Composite. As a result, this slump can impact the rest of the market – and it manifests a more general malaise that other, less-beloved tech stocks must deal with.
Unsurprisingly, the Nasdaq Composite – a technology bellwether – is feeling the pain as well:
The sentiment can also be seen in other tech names, some which have been slumping for awhile and others which have fallen into a funk only recently:
Even SaaS darlings like Salesforce.com can’t shake the trend – the stock entered bear territory itself on November 19th.
Tell Me Why
Why have investors soured, at least temporarily, on the tech stock universe?
There are multiple narratives floating around, but the general gist is something like this: the current bull market in stocks is nine years long, and at some point the party will come to an end. Because the FAANG stocks traditionally trade at very generous valuations, they are likely to come back down to earth as economic conditions deteriorate.
Further, the fears around FAANG stocks are seemingly being confirmed by recent news. For example, there are reports of Apple slicing orders for iPhones, a stagnant Facebook userbase, and other growth hurdles being experienced by these companies – and these reports are helping to fan the flames.
Some experts see the slump as an opportunity to load up on discounted tech heavyweights – while others, such as early Facebook investor Jason Calacanis, say it is possible that the social network has already experienced its “Yahoo peak” in terms of relevance and valuation.
Technology
Ranked: Largest Semiconductor Foundry Companies by Revenue
Most of the 10 largest semiconductor foundries in the world, are headquartered in just three Asian countries, accounting for 90% of the entire industry’s revenue.

Ranked: Largest Semiconductor Foundry Companies by Revenue
They’re in our phones, cars, planes, and even fridges.
Semiconductor chips have become critical for the modern way of life, and the biggest semiconductor foundry companies rake in billions of dollars from widespread demand.
This chart shows the largest semiconductor foundry companies by their percentage of global revenues in Q1 2023, using data sourced from Trendforce.
Semiconductor Foundry Companies by Revenue
At the top of the list and dwarfing every other company by revenue share is TSMC which earned 60% (or nearly $17 billion) of the entire industry’s revenue in Q1 2023.
Founded in 1987, TSMC is a pure-play foundry that has become Taiwan’s largest company and manufactures products for a host of clients including Apple, NVIDIA, and AMD.
Rank | Company | Country | Revenue (Q1 2023, USD) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | TSMC | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | $16,735M |
2 | Samsung | 🇰🇷 South Korea | $3,446M |
3 | GlobalFoundries | 🇺🇸 US | $1,841M |
4 | UMC | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | $1,784M |
5 | SMIC | 🇨🇳 China | $1,462M |
6 | HuaHong Group | 🇨🇳 China | $845M |
7 | Tower Semiconductor | 🇮🇱 Israel | $356M |
8 | PSMC | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | $332M |
9 | VIS | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | $269M |
10 | DB Hitek | 🇰🇷 South Korea | $234M |
Other | $556M | ||
Global Total | $27,860M |
Note: Revenue based on the following conversion rates: USD 1 = WON 1,276; USD 1 = NTD 30.4.
Well behind TSMC in foundry revenues is integrated device manufacturer Samsung, the biggest company in South Korea, which made $3.4 billion (12.4% of the industry’s revenue) from its semiconductor manufacturing business.
GlobalFoundries from the U.S., UMC from Taiwan and SMIC from China round out the top five, with each taking home around 6% of industry’s revenue share in Q1 2023. The former spun out from AMD’s manufacturing arm when the company went fabless in 2009.
Industry concentration is apparent in semiconductors. For example, the top 10 semiconductor foundry companies account for 98% of the entire industry’s revenue. Furthermore, 90% of the market is dominated by companies in just three Asian countries: Taiwan, South Korea, and China.
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