In two sessions, $200 billion of FANG market cap up in smoke

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook, Amazon.com, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet were at the centre of a volatile session on the U.S. stock market on Monday, cleaving $200 billion (156.22 billion pounds) off of the so-called FANG group’s combined market capitalisation in two sessions.

With each company’s share price down between 14 percent and 24 percent in October, the quartet of stocks that has been the most popular trade on Wall Street in recent years appears to be in trouble.

(GRAPHIC: Falling apart – tmsnrt.rs/2CPl2MP)

The combined companies’ market capitalisation has fallen from a record $2.5 trillion in July to $1.93 trillion on Monday.

(GRAPHIC: FANG falls on hard times – tmsnrt.rs/2P1lsab)

The most recent catalyst hurting FANG was Amazon’s quarterly results late on Thursday, which missed analysts’ expectations and ignited worries the tech darling is finally facing stronger competition.

Amazon’s stock has fallen 14 percent since then, its worst two-day decline since 2014, with the online retailer and cloud computing seller relinquishing its spot as the second largest U.S. company by stock market valuation to Microsoft.

(GRAPHIC: Two-session take-down – tmsnrt.rs/2OZaSjS)

That steep two-day drop in Amazon and losses in other FANG stocks has reduced the group’s market capitalisation by $200 billion to $1.93 trillion.

The next catalyst for FANG may come on Tuesday, when Facebook posts its quarterly results after the bell. Analysts on average expect the social network’s revenue to have grown 33 percent in the third quarter, its slowest quarterly growth rate since the company listed its shares in 2012, according to Refinitiv.

(GRAPHIC: Facebook’s revenue growth rate slowing – tmsnrt.rs/2CNINoG)

Investors in recent months have become increasingly concerned about rising costs and damage to Facebook’s reputation following criticism of its management of users’ personal data.