Zinger Key Points
- A Benzinga Reader poll asks which Magnificent 7 stock could be hit hardest by the Fed's decision to leave rates unchanged.
- The Federal Reserve cut rates three straight times prior to January's meeting.
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After cutting the federal funds rate three straight times to end 2024, the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged in January.
A new Benzinga reader poll asks which Magnificent 7 stock could be most hurt by the decision.
What Happened: The Fed kept the federal funds rate steady in January at 4.25% to 4.5%, a decision that comes after three straight cuts totaling 100 basis points in 2024.
Cutting interest rates can help make borrowing more affordable and can lead to economic growth.
The Magnificent Seven stocks are among the largest companies in the world and can sometimes be insulated from economic pressures. Better borrowing rates could be more attractive to some of the companies that sell more expensive items.
"Which Magnificent 7 stock will be most negatively impacted by the Fed's rate decision?" Benzinga asked.
The results were:
- Tesla Inc TSLA: 39%
- NVIDIA Corporation NVDA: 30%
- Amazon.com Inc AMZN: 9%
- Microsoft Corporation MSFT: 9%
- Apple Inc AAPL: 8%
- Meta Platforms META: 5%
- Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL: 0%
Tesla won the poll with 39% saying the stock would be impacted the worst by the Fed's decision. This is likely due to borrowing rates and Tesla having more expensive items than the other stocks. Ranking second was Nvidia, a company that likely benefits from other companies seeing growth as it supplies products to both companies and consumers.
The poll found Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Meta having similar impacts based on readers' opinions.
Alphabet received no votes in the poll, which could suggest the company will benefit or not be negatively impacted at all by Fed rate cut decisions.
Why It's Important: With the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep rates steady, economists now predict that the first rate cut will not come until June or later, with a 30% chance in March, a 45% chance in June, and a 28% chance in September.
Benzinga also asked if the Fed's decision was correct. The majority of readers (72%) said the Fed's decision to keep rates steady was the current one with 22% saying they should have cut rates and 5% saying the Fed should have raised rates.
The Fed’s statement said that “economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace” and said inflation was moving closer to the 2% target. While the Fed talked positively about inflation progress, they noted that the metric “remains somewhat elevated,” which was less positive than comments at the December meeting.
President Donald Trump has been calling for more rate cuts and spoke out after the Fed’s decision Wednesday.
“The Fed has done a terrible job on Bank Regulation,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The president promised that his administration would “unleash lending for all American people and businesses.”
The next FOMC meeting is scheduled for March 18-March 19, which could see the Fed deciding to keep rates unchanged again or making another cut.
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The study was conducted by Benzinga from Jan. 29, 2025 through Jan. 30, 2025. It included the responses of a diverse population of adults 18 or older. Opting into the survey was completely voluntary, with no incentives offered to potential respondents. The study reflects results from 89 adults.
Image: Shutterstock
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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