The "Magnificent Seven" describes the seven biggest technology-focused companies that have led the market's returns in recent years. Bank of America (BAC -1.00%) analyst Michael Hartnett coined the phrase based on the Western film with the same name (originally made in 1960 and remade in 2016).
This update on the term FAANG stocks encompasses more of the top companies capitalizing on technology megatrends. Here's a look at the Magnificent Seven stocks and whether they are good investments right now.
What are the Magnificent Seven stocks?
The Magnificent Seven stocks are seven of the largest technology-focused companies by market cap.
| Company name | Company ticker | Market cap | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | NASDAQ:AAPL | $3.9 trillion | Information Technology |
| Alphabet | NASDAQ:GOOG | $3.1 trillion | Communication Services |
| Amazon | NASDAQ:AMZN | $2.3 trillion | Consumer Discretionary |
| Meta Platforms | NASDAQ:META | $1.8 trillion | Communication Services |
| Nvidia | NASDAQ:NVDA | $4.4 trillion | Information Technology |
| Microsoft | NASDAQ:MSFT | $3.8 trillion | Information Technology |
| Tesla | NASDAQ:TSLA | $1.5 trillion | Consumer Discretionary |
All seven companies are focused on capitalizing on large technology-driven growth trends. But technically speaking, five are tech stocks, and two are tech-focused consumer discretionary stocks.
They're leaders in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, video games, social media, digital advertising, software, hardware, e-commerce, and electric vehicles (EVs). These technology trends are driving outsize growth for companies focused on them.
Should I invest in the Magnificent Seven?
The Magnificent Seven stocks have delivered magnificent returns. As a group, these seven stocks delivered a 58% two-year return in 2023 and 2024. They contributed more than half the return delivered by the S&P 500.
While Magnificent Seven stocks have slumped in early 2025 due to Deepseek and tariff-driven market uncertainty (down about 14% as a group as of mid-2025), they've still delivered market-crushing returns over the past decade:
Asset
Risks of investing in the Magnificent Seven
Although the Magnificent Seven are among the world's largest and financially strongest companies, they're not without risk. One of the biggest risks of investing in these stocks is their high valuations.
After their market-smashing returns in recent years, the group traded at a premium price. In mid-2025, the Magnificent Seven traded at price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios of 18 times (Alphabet) to more than 150 times (Tesla), with most trading at more than 30 times earnings. That was higher than the S&P 500's P/E ratio (22.5 times) and a bit more than the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 (more than 29 times).
That's a hefty premium to pay for companies as large as the Magnificent Seven. It could be hard for those already large companies to grow into their valuations in the future, potentially causing their stock prices to underperform.
Another risk is that tech spending tends to be cyclical. If there's a recession and economic growth slows, it could significantly affect the growth of the Magnificent Seven. Given their premium price tags, a recession-driven slowdown could cause a steep decline in their stock prices. We saw this in early 2025 when the group tumbled on concerns that tariffs could cause a recession.
The bottom line on the Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven stocks have delivered magnificent returns over the years. These tech-focused companies have capitalized on many of the biggest technological growth trends, enabling them to grow rapidly and produce strong returns for their investors.
While they're in excellent positions to continue growing rapidly in the future, they're not without risk. Investors must understand the risks before loading their portfolios with these seven stocks.
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