It's the time of the year S&P 500 tech companies report their second-quarter profit. Ironically, tech investors are jumping on shares of companies that don't earn a dime.
Goldman Sachs' basket of non-profitable tech stocks is up 62% from the April market low, says Bespoke Investment Group. That's double the S&P 500's 28% gain in that time. The separation between money-losing tech stocks and the rest of the market shows how investors are upping their appetite for risk.
"Another area of the market that speculators have piled into in the last few months is non-profitable tech," Bespoke said.
Keeping Things In Perspective
With shares of money-losing stocks doing so well, along with flying shares of high-risk ARK Innovation ETFs, it's natural to think speculation is hitting a fever pitch.
But there are signs that's not happening, yet. Actual investor flows into ARK Funds are nonexistent. And historically non-profitable tech has run up much more than it is now. Bespoke found the Goldman Sachs' basket of non-profitable tech stocks rallied more than 400% in 2020 and 2021 "before crashing and burning."
"Looking at the rolling 79-day change going back to April 8, the Goldman basket is up just over 60%, but it doubled that with a gain of more than 125% over its peak 79-day stretch back in 2020," Bespoke found.
And it's a similar story with the ARK Innovation ETF. "Even with a gain of 160% off its 2022 low, ARKK is still 50% below all-time highs," Bespoke said.
It looks like investors are still keeping their enthusiasm in check.
Biggest 2025 Gains By Money-Losing Tech Stocks
Part of S&P 1500 and Completion Indexes
| Company | Ticker | YTD % Ch. | Net loss expected in 2025, $ millions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeva Technologies | AEVA | 363.2% | -$101.9 |
| 908 Devices | MASS | 233.2% | -19.2 |
| Aeluma | ALMU | 214.2% | -0.7 |
| Neonode | NEON | 206.7% | -6.5 |
| Gryphon Digital Mining | GRYP | 169.5% | -25.2 |
| Navitas Semiconductor | NVTS | 139.8% | -37.0 |
| Domo | DOMO | 126.8% | -8.3 |
| D-Wave Quantum | QBTS | 118.5% | -52.7 |
| Ouster | OUST | 112.2% | -38.4 |
| BTCS | BTCS | 108.9% | -6.8 |
