Apple Bull and Wedbush's analyst Dan Ives brushed aside increasing geopolitical concerns and macroeconomic factors, sounding a bullish note for the tech sector ahead of the March 2024 earnings season. He expects tech stocks to rally 15% in 2024.
What Happened: Ives, who has been bullish about the tech sector, thinks a multitude of factors have aligned to make the first-quarter earnings "robust."
"I think this is going to be a robust tech earnings season next few weeks."
While Nvidia Corp.'s NVDA Jensen Huang and Microsoft Corp. MSFT are leading the "AI revolution," Ives believes other companies are contributing to the second, third, and fourth-order derivatives of "$1 trillion spending" over the next decade, driving the growth in spending and advancing technology, too.
The broader technology index, the Nasdaq Composite, has experienced choppiness over the last month. While the Nasdaq is up 9.54% year-to-date, in the last month, it is up by just 1.26%.
Likewise, while the S&P 500 is up 8.02% year-to-date, its 1-month return is just 0.12%. Ives brushed it off, though.
"I think it's just nervousness given the overall market, geopolitical… and everything going on with the 10-year [yields]," Ives said during an interview on CNBC.
He thinks it's a "get out the popcorn moment" as far as technology stocks are concerned.
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"We view this more of a golden buying opportunity, given what we've seen in cybersecurity, AI revolution, digital marketing and advertising."
"This is not the time to run, it's actually time to own the winners."
Microsoft's iPhone Moment: Microsoft, which has been infusing AI across the length and breadth of its portfolio, including Windows, Office, Azure, and more, is having its "iPhone moment," according to Ives.
"We strongly view this as Microsoft’s “iPhone Moment” with AI set to change the cloud growth trajectory in Redmond the next few years."
Ives said Wedbush's channel checks give "further confidence" in its outlook for the March quarter.
Ives also struck a bullish note for Apple Inc. AAPL. Ahead of the crucial Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, Ives thinks Apple has the "best-installed base in the world" to implement strategies for its AI future.
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