The US Magnificent Seven stocks delivered another year of growth, but there was a clear outperformer and laggard within the group.
Samy Sriram from online trading platform Stake said Australians invested heavily in US shares in 2024.
Sriram said Stake clients showed a preference for gaining exposure to major individual tech stocks.
So, how much share price growth did the Magnificent Seven deliver in 2024, and how does their growth compare to their US peers?
The Mag 7 stocks are generally referred to as US tech stocks. However, they actually incorporate three market sectors: technology, communications, and consumer discretionary.
So, let's use the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) as our barometer for the Mag 7's peers.
The NASDAQ rose by 28.64% in 2024.
We rank the Mag 7 stocks by annual share price growth below, starting with the No. 1 performer.
And there's no surprise there…
Here's how the Magnificent Seven stocks did last year
NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA)
US market darling NVIDIA rose by 171.18% to close at US$134.29 per share on 31 December.
Sriram said:
Nvidia trades like the undisputed proxy for the AI market as the world's biggest tech firms… ramp up spending on the sector.
Demand for its next-gen Blackwell GPUs appears to be spurring optimism for a strong 2025.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META)
US communications sector stock Meta also performed strongly in 2024. Meta Platforms shares rose by 65.42% to finish the year at US$585.51.
JMP Securities analyst Andrew Boone has an outperform rating on Meta with a 12-month share price target of $750, implying a potential 28% upside in 2025.
Boone notes Meta's $30 billion in capital expenditure in 2024 and how it is using AI to improve its services. On the last earnings call with investors, Meta management said more than one million advertisers had used its generative AI tools to create more than 15 million ads in October alone.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA)
Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla had a 62.52% increase in its share price to US$403.84 per share.
Sriram said investors endured a rollercoaster ride with this US consumer discretionary share in 2024:
Tesla didn't have the best start to the year — three months in, it was the S&P's worst performer, down by nearly 32%. But the comeback was greater than the setback.
CEO Elon Musk has also projected a 20% to 30% vehicle growth next year.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)
The Amazon share price zipped 44.39% higher last year to close at US$219.39 on 31 December.
Sriram said:
Shares hit an all-time high after Amazon's annual cloud conference, where the firm said its Trainium2 chips would hit the market.
With 30%-40% better price performance over the current generation of GPU-based instances, it's an offering that could take on Nvidia.
Alphabet Inc Class A and C (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Magnificent Seven communications stock Alphabet rose by 35.51% to finish the year at US$189.30.
Sriram said Google's parent company was "an AI winner" last year:
The 36% YoY growth in Google Cloud revenue to US$11.35b was a celebrated metric in the company's latest quarterly report, while advertising revenue also rose 10% to US$65.9b, leading to a 38% return for investors in 2024.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL)
US tech share Apple rose by 30.07% to close at US$250.42 per share on 31 December.
Sriram said:
Investor sentiment in Australia was likely impacted by Apple's newest iPhones experiencing 44% more demand than its 2023 models in China, along with renewed optimism surrounding Apple Intelligence.
However, Apple's sustained success depends on whether next year's iPhone 17 launch can drive a 20 million unit increase in iPhone sales, as some analysts anticipate.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Microsoft was the laggard within the Magnificant Seven stocks in 2024. Its share price lifted 12.09% to close at US$421.50.
Sriram said the ASX tech giant put in a mixed performance in 2024:
Its US$15b investment in ChatGPT creator OpenAI gave the firm an early edge in the AI race, but its big tech peers have now caught up.
Read about the 2025 outlook for US equities here: US shares: Is their phenomenal run done?
