Last year, the NASDAQ Composite Index (INDEXNASDAQ: IXIC) suffered one of its toughest years since the Great Financial Crisis.
The bellwether technology stock index lost a third of its value as aggressive interest rate hikes and soaring inflation battered growth stocks.
However, 2023 looks set to erase those losses and more as the NASDAQ Composite Index posted its best first half since 1983, climbing 32% in the first six months of this year.
The broader S&P 500 Index fared well too, logging a 16% gain within the same period.
Fast forward to today, and the NASDAQ Composite Index has continued to power ahead, chalking up a stunning gain of 37.5% year-to-date.
Along the way, many US stocks also saw their share prices surge higher as a wave of optimism swept across the market.
We profile four US stocks that more than doubled their share prices to date and see if they have the potential to continue their run.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META)
Meta Platforms is a social media giant that owns the chat program WhatsApp as well as photo and video-sharing platforms Instagram and Facebook.
Shares of the company have soared 158.7% year-to-date and recently closed near its 52-week at US$322.71.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg had declared 2023 as Meta Platforms’ “Year of Efficiency” as he sought to slash expenses to boost profitability.
The social media company has kept to its word as it carried out a three-part round of layoffs this year that concluded in May, eliminating a total of 10,000 jobs.
These retrenchments came after 11,000 employees were shown the door last Autumn.
Meta Platforms’ recent earnings report was encouraging as it showed that expenses were not ballooning like before as revenue growth moderated.
For its fiscal 2023’s first half (1H 2023), revenue rose 6.9% year on year to US$60.6 billion while net profit dipped just 4.6% year on year to US$13.5 billion.
Free cash flow, however, jumped by 37.6% year on year to US$18.2 billion for 1H 2023.
Daily and monthly average users also registered a 4.9% and 3.3% year-on-year increase, respectively, to 2.06 billion and 3.03 billion.
The company recently launched Threads, a competitor to Twitter, and Mr Zuckerberg also promised an exciting roadmap with new artificial intelligence (AI) products in the pipeline coupled with the launch of a new game, Quest 3, in the fall.
Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU)
Roku manufactures and sells digital media players used for video streaming and also operates an ad-supported video-on-demand service.
Shares of the manufacturer leapt 140.4% year-to-date and closed at a new 52-week high of US$97.49.
The company reported an encouraging set of earnings for its 2023’s second quarter (2Q 2023) that beat analysts’ estimates.
Total revenue for 2Q 2023 climbed 11% year on year to US$743.8 million while gross profit increased by 7% year on year to US$378.3 million.
The device manufacturer also saw active accounts climb 16% year on year to 73.5 million with streaming hours jumping 21% year on year to 25.1 billion as more people used its products to tune in to streaming television.
Roku launched Roku-branded TVs in March to offer customers more choices and these TVs have received strong industry reviews.
And for the first time, Roku hit 1.1% of total TV viewing, its highest-ever level, according to Nielsen. This compares favourably with Disney+ at 1.8% and Prime Video at 3.1%, although market leader Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) commanded a 7.9% share.
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA)
Nvidia develops integrated circuits that are used for devices such as electronic game consoles and personal computers.
The company also manufactures high-end graphics processing units (GPUs).
Nvidia’s share price has more than tripled year-to-date from US$143.15 to US$465.07, putting the technology company in the league of trillion-dollar companies.
The company reported encouraging fiscal 2024’s first quarter (1Q FY2024) earnings, with revenue up 19% from the previous quarter at US$7.2 billion.
But it was Nvidia’s outlook for its second quarter that got investors excited – the company is forecasting revenue of US$11 billion, which would be a 64.2% year on year surge from the prior year’s US$6.7 billion.
CEO Jensen Huang believes that accelerated computing and generative AI are two trends that should see surging demand for GPUs and integrated circuits.
Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL)
Royal Caribbean is one of the leading cruise companies in the world with a global fleet of 64 ships sailing to more than 1,000 destinations around the world.
The cruise liner’s share price has shot up 120.6% year-to-date and is hovering close to its 52-week high of US$112.95.
Royal Caribbean reported a strong set of earnings for its 2Q 2023 and raised its earnings per share guidance for the full year by 33%.
Revenue for the quarter leapt 61.3% year on year to US$3.5 billion, exceeding the company’s guidance, principally due to higher pricing along with higher shipboard revenue for key itineraries in the Caribbean and Europe.
The cruise company turned in a net profit of US$458.8 million for the quarter, reversing the US$521.6 million loss recorded a year earlier.
Operating cash flow turned positive for the first six months of 2023 while free cash flow clocked in at US$1.7 billion.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of Meta Platforms.
