Wedbush (IVES) highlighted its top 10 things that will stop the tech slide and the AI “Ghost Trade” overhang.
“Today the ‘AI is a threat to every industry narrative…with software front and center as enemy #1’ trade in this market. The AI trade has been the ‘fear of the unknown’ for the tech and software sector in particular. For the bulls, it’s like fighting a ghost, while the cap-ex dollars approach ~$700 billion this year alone…the fear is AI startups will be the Nightmare on Elm Street horror show for the tech industry,” said analysts led by Dan Ives.
The analysts added that the AI tech trade is at a tenuous crossroads, and it is time for tech leaders to lead.
The analysts noted their top 10 tech headlines to restart tech AI trade higher:
1. OpenAI (OPENAI) raises their $100B round and puts the loud noise to rest.
2. Nvidia’s (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang reiterates the massive AI chip demand trajectory on next week’s conference call and surpasses Street whisper numbers.
Nvidia is slated to report its fiscal fourth quarter results on Feb. 25.
3. Oracle has strong initial success in its key $45B to $50B capital raise.
4. Salesforce (CRM) delivers with earnings/guidance showing AI monetization has started.
5. Software mergers and acquisitions, or M&A, begin over the next few months with strategic, larger public deals.
6. Apple (AAPL) finally releases its first phase of Siri AI and starts the consumer AI chapter.
7. CrowdStrike (CRWD) is the first cybersecurity player starting to truly monetize on AI and that shows up in its next earnings report.
8. AI monetization starts to show up in March results from Microsoft (MSFT) and ServiceNow (NOW).
9. Meta Platforms (META) and Alphabet’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google digital advertising AI monetization ramps up in the first half of 2026.
10. Enterprises start to implement Anthropic’s (ANTHRO) Claude and have scaling and security issues.