Nasdaq 5,000 a 'blip,' going higher: CEO

The Nasdaq composite index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) closed Monday above 5,000 for the first time since March 2000 and the pros were in agreement: Times have changed.

For Craig Kanarick, CEO of Mouth and co-founder of Razorfish, Nasdaq 5,000 is a “blip.” He thinks the index will go much higher, in part because the companies in the index are stronger.

“The companies that we’re talking about like Apple are much more sophisticated. Steve Jobs was barely at Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) in 2000. But I think also there’s a difference in the way people are investing now,” he said in an interview with CNBC’s ” Closing Bell .”

Back before the dot-com bubble burst, there was a “gold rush” of IPOs where people were hoping for a 600 percent return in one day, Kanarick said. Now the market is more professional and less speculative, he said.

“We’ll start to see this slow down and head up to 7,000 in the next couple of years,” he said.

Diane Garnick, CEO of Clear Alternatives, agrees the changed composition of the index is great for investors.

“The companies in the Nasdaq today have business plans that they are executing on. We have companies with earnings. Not only that we have companies with a lot of cash on hand,” she said.

Read More Gross: Nasdaq 5K represents a ‘bit of a bubble’

In fact, earnings are up 150 percent since the last time the Nasdaq hit 5,000, Garnick noted.

The economy is also different this time around, CNBC senior contributor Larry Kudlow pointed out.

Back then, the Federal Reserve was “tightening like crazy” and the steep inverted yield curve had recession written all over it, he said.

“I’m not saying there’s no corrections, there are going to be corrections. I just think it is a totally different economic picture and I think this one’s sustainable,” he said.

“There is no inverted yield curve and recession and/or recession in sight for several more years. … That’s why I’m not so panicked.”

Read More As Nasdaq hits 5,000, is it time to worry?

David Garrity, principal at GVA Research, would continue to own the Nasdaq and noted that when adjusted for inflation, it would have to hit 6,900 to match Nasdaq 5,000 from 2000.

“We’re not even close,” he said.

More From CNBC

  • CNBC.com News Page
  • CNBC.com Blogs Page
  • CNBC.com Earnings Central