The S&P 500 index has posted substantial gains of almost 10% so far this year, in contrast to a 13% decline over the same period last year. However, the five companies with market valuations of over $1 trillion have been responsible for almost all of the benchmark’s progress. Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia have netted a collective $2.9tn in 2023, which represents 96% of the year’s almost $3tn gains. The rest of the S&P 500’s companies have contributed only 4%, or $110bn, to the index’s progress. The situation has prompted concerns about concentration risk.
Apple’s market value has grown from $2.07tn at the end of 2022 to $2.8tn as of Tuesday. Microsoft’s share price has also soared, from $239.82 apiece in 2022 to $331.21 piece, taking the company’s market cap to nearly $2.5tn. Nvidia momentarily hit the $1tn market-value milestone last week and has seen gains of approximately 175% so far this year, while Alphabet’s market value is now $1.58tn. Amazon’s market cap has grown from $857bn in 2022 to $1.25tn this year. The company has laid off tens of thousands of employees but has nonetheless posted upbeat Q1 performance results that exceeded Wall Street expectations.
Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, has seen his wealth rise by 160% this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the 34th richest person in the world.
