Alphabet owns Google. It’s a huge tech company. Home Depot is America’s biggest home improvement store. Both these companies are on the stock market. And both their stocks have dropped.
A stock is one part (or share) of a company. The stock price of a company depends on what people think it’s worth. If they believe a business is worth more, its stock price will go up; if they think it’s worth less, the price will go down. Traders sell stocks on the stock market. Each month, News-O-Matic covers two stocks. Now it’s Alphabet and Home Depot.
Going Down: Alphabet (Symbol: GOOG)
Google kept going up. By the end of 2021, one share was worth almost $150. Then Google had a bad year. By February 1, 2023, one share of Alphabet was $100. Then the company had a big bump.
ChatGPT is a chatbot. It uses . Microsoft said its search engine uses ChatGPT. On February 7, Google showed off its chatbot, Bard. But Bard got a question wrong.
After this mistake, Alphabet’s stock prices dropped. On February 7, one share of the company was worth $108. The next day, it was $100. The company’s stock continued to fall. It was just $90 on March 1.
Going Down: Home Depot (Symbol: HD)
People shop at 2,300 Home Depot stores across North America. That company sells goods to help people fix their homes. Those include floors and paint. Home Depot had $150 billion in sales in 2021. Its stock price hit $415 in December 2021.
Home Depot saw its value slip. It ended at $316 in December 2022. In February 2023, the company’s stock was in another drop. On February 1, one share of Home Depot cost about $330. By March 1, it had fallen below $300.
One reason for this happened on February 21. Leaders at Home Depot say the demand for house goods is slowing. That is because of inflation. Customers must spend more money on everyday items like food and gasoline. So, they’ll have less money for projects in the home.
Updated March 1, 2023, 5:01 P.M. (ET)
By Tyler Burdick
