Stock Market Marvels: Apple, Tesla, Nvidia among Aswath Damodaran’s ‘Seven Samurai’ that rescued US market in 2023

In an article published by Mint, NYU Professor Aswath Damodaran, a renowned expert in valuation, referred to Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla as the “Magnificent Seven.” These companies played a crucial role in driving a significant market rebound following the challenging economic environment of 2022. Damodaran also referred to them as the “Seven Samurai,” highlighting their pivotal role in the stock market’s recovery in 2023.

Damodaran emphasized that these seven stocks saw their combined market capitalization surge by $5.1 trillion in 2023, with Nvidia and Meta emerging as top performers. Their exceptional performance accounted for over 50% of the total increase in U.S. equity market capitalization, transforming an otherwise average year into one with a notable 23.25% price appreciation. Damodaran pointed out that excluding these stocks from an investment portfolio over the last decade would have resulted in a 17.97% shortfall, highlighting their importance in the broader market’s success.

He also analyzed their performance as a correction from 2022’s losses, where the group collectively shed $4.8 trillion in market cap, suggesting that 2023’s gains were a bounce back to just above 2021 levels. According to Damodaran, these companies have dominated the market not just in 2023 but for over a decade, and missing out on these stocks would have made outperforming the market nearly impossible.