Facebook Surges To New All-Time High But Closes Below Buy Range
Loading the player… After Facebook ’s ( FB ) stellar quarterly report Wednesday evening, the social networking giant’s stock hit a new all-time high in the stock market today . For most of the day, the stock was trading in buy range, but Facebook closed the regular session just below that level. The attempted breakout comes as other big names have recently neared buying opportunities but crumbled on their quarterly results, including Google owner Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Starbucks ( SBUX ). Facebook’s earnings jumped 83%, while sales grew 52%. Both topped views and marked a third straight quarter of accelerating growth for the top and bottom lines. Shares jumped 7.2% in huge volume, hitting a new all-time high and breaking out of a cup-with-handle base with a 117.09 buy point in intraday trade. But the stock faded as the market sold off and closed the day at 116.73. After hours, the stock rose a fraction to reclaim the buy point. Facebook earns an IBD Composite Rating of 95 out of 99, meaning its shares outperform 95% of all stocks in the market, based on fundamental and technical factors. IBD’s Take: How healthy are the shares of Facebook and its rivals? Find out at IBD Stock Checkup Alphabet gapped below its 50-day line after its report last week. Shares tested support at the 200-day line in Wednesday’s session and are breaching that level today. Alphabet is now trading 12% below its February high, down 2.3% in intraday trade. Microsoft also gapped below its 50-day line in the wake of its results last week. Shares are breaking below their 200-day line in intraday trade Thursday, falling 2%, and are about 12% below their December peak. Starbucks is now trading below its 50-day and 200-day lines, and hit a new two-month low in intraday trade as it fell 0.8%. Shares are 11% below their October high. And while Apple ( AAPL ) wasn’t near buy range ahead of its report Tuesday night, shares gapped down to a two-month low on disappointing results. Apple is 28% below its high, reached exactly one year ago today, with shares down 3.1%. Meanwhile, Amazon ( AMZN ) was flirting with trading in buy range ahead of its quarterly report after the close. Shares jumped late on view-topping results.