Wedbush's Dan Ives thinks that a culmination of the AI revolution and improving ad spending will make the March quarter "one to watch" for companies in the technology sector.
What Happened: Ives expressed optimism about the prospects of big technology companies in the March 2024 quarter.
"I think it's going to be one for the ages in terms of digital advertising," Ives explained, underscoring that Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google is his top pick for this reason.
Ives thinks that the spending environment in the tech industry is improving. This will help us see the next part of the "AI revolution," according to Ives.
"Big Tech earnings should be robust for 1Q and an important moment to put fuel into this tech rally with earnings/growth moving higher," Ives said in an interview with CNBC.
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Ives has been consistent in his belief that the next phase of the AI revolution is the demand of AI and cloud computing.
After Oracle Corp.'s ORCL fiscal third-quarter earnings, Ives underscored that its "hypergrowth" in AI is the "big clue" of the AI revolution puzzle.
Now, based on Wedbush's surveys, Ives thinks that the growth here is "much stronger than expected" when it comes to advertising, which will help boost Google's revenues.
"We think Google here could ultimately have a $30-$40 upside on digital advertising as well as what we’re seeing on the cloud side."
Ives is also optimistic about Microsoft Corp. MSFT on the AI and cloud fronts, and Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta Platforms Inc. META is also on his radar.
Why It Matters: Ives' bullish outlook concerning Google is noteworthy after it struggled with its AI chatbot, Gemini.
In March, Wedbush said in a note seen by Benzinga that the risks to Google Search from AI are "overstated" and it was added to the brokerage firm's "Best Ideas List" (BIL) as well.
At the time, Wedbush raised its target price for Google from $160 to $175, with an "outperform" rating. However, Ives now thinks that there is a potential upside of $30 to $40 for the search giant.
Overall, Ives has a positive outlook for the tech sector. He thinks that tech stocks have an upside of up to 15% for the rest of the year, on the back of an improved spending environment.
Price Action: Alphabet Inc Class A shares were down 0.4% in premarket trading on Friday after closing at $151.94 on the previous day, according to Benzinga Pro.
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