The four major technology stocks plummeted collectively, will platform antitrust burst the bubble?
Words of a Family
The antitrust guidelines have cracked down on some means of unfair competition, but the long-term good growth prospects of technology stocks are beyond doubt.
The promulgation of the anti-monopoly guidelines only allowed market enthusiasm to return to rationality and competition to return to fairness. The capital market need not overreact to this decline.
As of the close of November 11, the Hang Seng Technology Index plummeted 6.23%, ATMJ plummeted, JD fell more than 17% in the two days, Hong Kong and the United States evaporated 150 billion Hong Kong dollars; Meituan fell nearly 20% in the two days; A daily drop of 14%, Ali lost more than 700 billion Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong and the United States; Tencent fell 11% in the two days, and its market value evaporated nearly 700 billion Hong Kong dollars.
The total market value of the four major technology stocks in the two days evaporated by nearly HK$2 trillion.
In the capital market, there is no single reason for the large fluctuations in stock prices.
Part of the reason for the collective decline of the four major technology stocks was a correction in response to the rapid upward momentum in the previous period.
For example, due to Ant Financial’s listing at the beginning of the month, Ali, which was significantly higher at the beginning of the month, was affected by regulatory interviews and postponed listings. The stock price quickly fell back to the level of September.
However, in addition to this, another important reason is the news published on the website of the State Administration of Market Supervision on the 10th that the Municipal Supervision Bureau drafted the "Guidelines for Antitrust in the Field of Platform Economy (Draft for Comment)" and publicly solicited opinions from the public.
The introduction of the "Guide" formally took the first step in Internet monopoly supervision.
Some people are worried, is it because this guide pierced the bubble of Internet technology stocks?
Leaving aside bubbles, it is certain that the fundamental purpose of the "Guide" is not to combat giants, but to promote fair competition in the market.
From an economic perspective, anti-monopoly will promote the improvement of social utility.
The existence of monopoly leads to the reduction of similar competing products. Monopoly manufacturers control the market price higher than the equilibrium price, and the extra part becomes the monopoly income of the enterprise. The market supply and demand appear to be a fault, deviating from the optimal market configuration state, resulting in The total utility of society is lost.
Cracking down on monopoly behavior can increase market supply, lower market prices, and bring the supply-demand relationship closer to an equilibrium state, thereby enhancing the level of social utility.
The "Guide" also gives other manufacturers an opportunity to compete on an equal footing.
Large-scale platforms have gathered a large amount of traffic and set a threshold for traffic outflow with the help of monopoly status, making it difficult for other small companies to compete with it. The introduction of anti-monopoly can effectively restrict it, which will also stimulate innovation in various companies in the industry Enthusiasm, large companies further increase innovation in order to maintain their own market share, while small companies can gain a place through their own innovation.
Finally, although the antitrust guidelines have cracked down on some unfair competition methods, the long-term good growth prospects of technology stocks are beyond doubt.
As mentioned earlier, e-commerce has contributed to driving the development of the physical industry and stimulating social consumer demand. Moreover, they are innovating e-commerce models, developing emerging business formats such as live streaming, and expanding cross-border e-commerce business. All aspects are at the forefront of the industry and have considerable growth potential in the future.
Therefore, the introduction of the "Guide" is just to return market enthusiasm to rationality and competition to return to fairness. The capital market does not have to overreact to this decline.
Pan Helin (financial commentator)