A fundamental shift may be occurring, it is one I have seen in the tech space before.

Do you remember a time when Microsoft (MSFT) was the darling of tech names in the stock market?

It’s was a growth story and every Joe on main street knew the ticker symbol for Mr. Softie. If you owned MSFT in the 90’s you were part of the bandwagon that did well in what was the #1 name in tech.

Then something interesting happened. People started looking outside the Microsoft window and into the 2000’s the nostalgia started to fade. The analysts and everyday investors started to lose the “sky is the limit” attitude with MSFT. Basically, it was no longer a growth story. Actually, it probably wasn’t a growth story years before that sentiment came around to be honest. That doesn’t mean the company’s sales and business weren’t growing, it just means the growth became less exciting or sustainable and then there was a new kid on the block.

The new kid was APPLE

Apple as we all know become the darling tech name in the stock market in the early 2000’s. It took the torch from Microsoft and has been a growth name ever since. Investors in Apple over the past decade have been rewarded handsomely.

However (and RIP Steve Jobs) over the past couple years something interesting has happened. The talk about Apple is not what it once was. This blind faith of absolute growth and returns in regard to Apple has faded. The majority of analysts and talking heads spoke of Apple like it was a god the way they spoke of Microsoft in decades past.

That has changed.

Now you have analysts that don’t believe in the company’s growth and the ones that do so a subdued type of growth. Not the explosive growth Apple is known for.

Now granted, when a company grows immensely over a decade it gets harder and harder to grow at the same rate forever. That I think is an issue for any company.

Facebook, the new kid on the block!

Now we have Facebook, the current day tech darling. I’ll be honest. I did not get it. I was a facebook hater. How did they make money? It’s a social media website and only young people are into that. Well, clearly that is not the case and they are taking over the world much like Microsoft did in the 90’s and Apple did over the past decade.

This is not to say Apple cannot grow or see the stock go higher; heck it just shot up on its latest earning announcement.

This is just recognition of a fundamental shift I saw once before and I am seeing again. The torch always gets passed. I believe we are currently in the process of seeing that once again.

DISCLAIMER: This post is in no way investment advice and is for educational purposes only.