MANGO Emerges as New Tech Powerhouse, Eclipsing FAANG in AI-Driven Era

MANGO beats FAANG in battle for tech supremacy

Why it matters: It's a reflection of the moment. The companies commanding attention today are the ones leading the AI revolution. "The power has shifted in Big Tech from the FAANGs and the Mag 7s over to the AI leaders," venture capitalist Kristina Shen recently said on CNBC. "It's very clear in terms of the products they're shipping, the consumer love they're demanding and the types of acquisitions they're making that they are controlling consumer sentiment." Zoom in: Different iterations of MANGO are coming up in blog posts and on social media. Some people think of Meta and Apple instead of Microsoft and Anthropic. * But each company has earned its place in the new acronym for AI prowess -- whether that's Microsoft's ability to reach millions of Americans at work with Copilot or Nvidia's chip dominance. "Once you hear it you're like, 'Oh, of course,'" says Robert Rosenberg, partner at Moses Singer and managing director of MS Strategic Solutions, who recently wrote on MANGO's rise. * "These are the companies that are in the headlines every day. These are the companies everyone wants to hear from." Between the lines: MANGO is also the new goal for computer science graduates across the country and around the world. * But landing these coveted jobs is harder than it was in the FAANG era. The 15 largest tech companies' hiring of new grads has plummeted more than 50% since 2019, the San Francisco Standard reports, citing VC firm SignalFire. Instead, the companies dominating AI are locked in a super-expensive talent war for a small group of top AI researchers. The bottom line: FAANG represented an era when each tech giant ruled its own domain, like social media, streaming or search. In the MANGO age, there's just one that matters -- AI.

From the FAANG gang to MANGO: how AI came to dominate US tech - The Economic Times

In 2025, this acronym is MANGO. This alphabet soup stands for Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Google, and OpenAI. For some, MA is Meta and Anthropic.For over a decade, FAANG in the US symbolised the top tech stocks on Wall Street, representing Facebook (now Meta), Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. With sky-high valuations and a halo around their names, these companies rose to success through their consumer platforms, with revenues from advertising and subscriptions. In 2025, this acronym is no longer relevant. Now it is MANGO. This alphabet soup stands for Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Google, and OpenAI. For some, MA is Meta and Anthropic. Why MANGO? MANGO constituents are now leading the charge with AI, semiconductors, and cloud offerings, setting the tone for what investors are putting their weight behind. Note how two of these companies, i.e., Anthropic and OpenAI, are not even listed on the bourses yet. AI power Meta, which was part of the elite FAANG as well, is now striving for superintelligence. The company has invested heavily in research and large language models, i.e., its Llama series, and is transitioning from a social media giant to an high-powered AI firm. Apple is playing catchup by building an AI ecosystem to power its device portfolio. Its newest iPhone 17, Macbook, and Apple Watch heavily feature Apple Intelligence, a personal AI system integrated into Apple's operating systems. As for Nvidia, it has emerged as the flagbearer of the AI wave with its GPU chips which run a majority of the world's complex AI models. Google's revenues majorly come from cloud computing and it is advancing its AI research and investing heavily in data centres to power Gemini, its generative AI platform. Competing with that is the company behind the generative AI revolution, OpenAI's ChatGPT. Financials In terms of performance, MANGO stocks have displayed their muscle on the street. Since 2022, the Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates by 550 basis points, which would typically hamper valuations. However, the S&P 500 index continued to grow during this time, led by MANGO. This comes on the back of heavy investment in research and development by these companies. According to reports, MANGO companies dedicate nearly 22% of their revenues to R&D, significantly more than the S&P 500 median. Preferred employers MANGO firms have replaced the FAANG gang to become sought-after employers, especially among students and fresh graduates in tech and AI-related fields. Students now seek internships and entry-level roles at these companies, which offer hands-on experience in AI, machine learning, and advanced hardware. AI companies are now also setting up shop in India for a mix of technical and revenue roles.