CNBC’s FactSet-sourced table shows 2026 returns among the Magnificent Seven ranging from Apple’s 26.8% gain to Tesla’s 10.8% loss, while its analysis found the group’s rolling 60-day correlation had recently reached a more-than-decade low.
The table showed Nvidia up 17.3%, Microsoft up 10.7%, Amazon up 8.8% and Alphabet up 2.2% year to date; Meta Platforms was down 5.2%. CNBC put Roundhill’s Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) up 7%, compared with a 12% gain for the S&P 500. FactSet’s fourth-quarter forecasts also call for 30.6% earnings growth among the S&P 500’s other 493 companies, versus 23.6% for the seven, as EconoTimes previously reported. Those figures are forecasts, not reported results.
CNBC’s calculation covered daily returns across all 21 possible pairs of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. AIStockWire used Yahoo Finance adjusted closing prices for a separate calculation, putting its average correlation at 0.12 on Oct. 16, the lowest since October 2013, before it rose to 0.22 at the Oct. 27 close. Correlation summarizes how closely returns have tracked; it does not explain why an individual stock moved.
Company results also point to different growth rates in cloud businesses. In the quarter ended June 30, Amazon Web Services sales rose 37% year over year to $42.2 billion. Microsoft said Azure and other cloud services revenue increased 43%, while Alphabet reported Google Cloud revenue up 82% to $24.8 billion. The companies define their cloud segments differently, limiting direct comparisons.
Meta reported $34.91 billion in capital expenditures and negative $2.12 billion in free cash flow for the three months ended Sept. 30. It forecast full-year 2026 capital expenditures of $135 billion to $145 billion. Meta describes free cash flow as a non-GAAP measure and cautions that it is not a proxy for cash available for discretionary spending.
D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria told CNBC, “This requires a much more granular approach.” Microsoft was scheduled to release fiscal 2027 first-quarter results, and Alphabet third-quarter results, after the market close Wednesday, Oct. 28. Amazon’s earnings call was scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 29, at 5 p.m. EDT.
