Are FAANG Stocks Still A Good Investment in 2022?

These are some of the biggest and best-known brands in the world, and for many of us, we use their services or products on a daily basis. If you had invested in any one of the FAANG Stocks 10 years ago, your investment(s) would currently be up hundreds of percent. Let's look at how the businesses stack up for 2022. 

Meta Platforms (Facebook)

I suppose we'll have to change that to MAANG soon enough. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: FB) is probably the one that made the most headlines this year. After all, its business transformation and name change, sparked all sorts of speculation around the metaverse and virtual worlds; which we are told will be the new age of digital socialization as well as personal and workplace communication. Facebook already holds a commanding position in social media, and targeting the metaverse industry, estimated to be worth $800 billion in 2024, could be exactly what this mega-cap needs to fuel further growth.

Apple

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) launched its latest set of tech in 2021, with new editions of its AirPods, Macbooks, Homepod Minis, new Apple Music services, and it will have a new iPhone launch in 2022. The company noted a slowdown in demand for its iPhone products and chip shortages affecting supply, but that being said, Apple products were among the top-selling products for all global shopping holidays, including China's 11/11, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. 

Amazon

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) lost its visionary CEO Jeff Bezos in 2021 but the business remains on its strategic path. Although it will always be classified as an e-commerce business, it's important for investors to know Amazon is much more than that. The number of partnership announcements Amazon has made in 2021 is truly incredible -- Goldman Sachs (cloud services for finance), Starbucks ('Just Walk Out' technology), Rivian (electric fleet order and a 22% stake), Hilton Hotels (Amazon Care) -- and that's just some of them. Amazon's other ventures include sending satellites into orbit for high-speed internet around the world and it bought the Hollywood studio MGM for $8.5 billion to advance streaming services.

Netflix

Some probably wonder why Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) is a part of FAANG. After all, it's a far smaller company than any of the others by market capitalization, but Netflix is up more than 4,000% in the last 10 years -- a statistic none of the others can match. Even now, Netflix has proved its resilience in the face of mass competition in the streaming space; services like Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Hulu, and HBO Max -- but it continues to dominate, while others struggle to improve subscriber growth. 

One of Netflix's biggest advantages is its 'Original' content with titles such as 'Squid Game', which has gained mass popularization in 2021. The company has no intention of slowing down either. In fact, it intends to become its own production house and is making acquisitions to build out its product offerings and abilities in production, computer-generated images (CGI), and visual effects.

Google

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is the face of the internet. Google Search and YouTube are the two most visited websites on the entire web. It's a daily necessity for many of us between work, personal search, social, and entertainment -- and people will always come back -- because it's free. That's the benefit of Google; the resilience of its business model. If there was a mass economic downturn tomorrow morning, you might cut some subscriptions and spend less, but you'll still use Google. And they can always sell those eyeballs to advertisers. 

Which is the best FAANG pick for 2022?

My picks would be Amazon and Google but some or all of the above are great additions to any portfolio in my opinion. Some investors see these stocks as a safe haven, some commentators project that growth will slow. Personally, I believe all will continue to control and retain a majority market share in each of their respective industries for many years to come.