PC: CNBC

For tech investors, what was initially seen as a third-quarter comeback has become a bust.

After dropping 5.5% the week before, the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.1% this week. Since the tech-heavy index fell more than 20% in March 2020 at the outset of the Covid-19 outbreak in the U.S., those two weeks represent the worst two-week span for the market.

The third quarter will come to an end next week, and the Nasdaq is on track to post losses for a third consecutive quarter unless it can reverse the 1.5% decrease that has occurred over the last five trading days of the quarter.

Since late 2021, investors have been selling off tech stocks on the theory that the companies that performed best during boom times will be disproportionately affected by rising interest rates and inflation. The Nasdaq is presently just slightly over its June low of the previous two years.

The Fed’s continued rate hikes, which on Wednesday increased benchmark interest rates by another three-quarters of a percentage point and signalled they would continue well above the current level in an effort to lower inflation from its highest levels since the early 1980s, had a devastating effect on the markets. Following the third consecutive increase of 0.75 percentage points, the central bank increased its federal funds rate to a range of 3%-3.25%, the highest level since early 2008.

The dollar has been gaining strength as rising rates have caused the 10-year Treasury yield to reach its highest level in 11 years. This raises the price of American goods abroad, hurting IT firms that rely heavily on exports.

Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Cresset Capital, stated on Friday’s “TechCheck” on CNBC that “this is a one-two hit on tech.” “A strong dollar hurts technology. High 10-year Treasury yields are not good for technology.

Amazon had the worst week among the mega-cap corporations, falling by about 8%. Both the parent companies of Facebook and Google, Alphabet, declined by around 4%. As a result of a combination of declining customer demand, sluggish advertising spending, and inflationary pressure on wages and products, all three corporations are currently implementing cost-cutting measures or hiring freezes.

About a month away comes the start of the tech earnings season, and growth prospects remain subdued. While Meta is anticipating a second consecutive quarter of dropping revenues, Alphabet is anticipated to see single-digit revenue growth after gaining more than 40% a year earlier. Apple’s growth is anticipated to be somewhat higher than 6%. With expectations of 10% and 16%, respectively, Amazon and Microsoft are expected to perform better.

Some sharing economy businesses experienced extremely difficult circumstances over the past week. Drops of between 12% and 14% were experienced by DoorDash, Uber, Airbnb, and Lyft. The shares of GitLab (-16%), Bill.com (-15%), Asana (-14%), and Confluent (-13%) experienced among of the biggest drops in the cloud software market, which had been surging in recent years before it crashed in 2022.

The annual Dreamforce conference was conducted this week in San Francisco by the cloud computing behemoth Salesforce. The corporation revealed a new long-term profitability goal during the conference’s session devoted to financial indicators, demonstrating its commitment to running more effectively.

According to Chief Financial Officer Amy Weaver, Salesforce wants to achieve an adjusted operating margin of 25%, which includes potential future acquisitions. This is higher than the 20% objective Salesforce had set for its fiscal year 2023 a year earlier. By increasing self-serve initiatives and raising salespeople’s efficiency, the corporation is attempting to lower sales and marketing as a percentage of revenue.

Shares of Salesforce decreased 3% for the week and 42% for the entire year.

In an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer at Dreamforce, co-CEO Marc Benioff stated, “There are so many things occurring in the market.” Between currencies, the economy, and the epidemic or recession. All of these are factors that you are sort of navigating.