Technology companies have driven the U.S. stock market this year. The tech rally is set to continue in 2024 with giants like
Apple
at the head, but there are other names to play, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
Ives has consistently been a tech bull and he’s not changing his tune heading into the new year. Spending on cloud and artificial intelligence technology is set to be up 20%-25% over the next year, despite a more modest rise in overall IT spending, Ives wrote in a research note.
Apple hasn’t been the most prominent name when it comes to those trends but the iPhone maker is still likely to be in the discussion when it comes to a further bull market in tech stocks.
“Apple remains our Top Tech Pick with a strong iPhone 15 upgrade cycle playing out into a strong holiday season which appears off to a good start post Black Friday weekend,” Ives wrote.
Elsewhere in Big Tech, Wedbush’s analysts pick out
Microsoft
and Google-parent
Alphabet.
However, Ives is also calling for a widening of the tech rally in 2024, which Barron’s has also written about recently.
Cybersecurity is a top sector to look for more winners according to Ives, who cites
Palo Alto Networks,
Zscaler
and
CrowdStrike
as attractive stocks. All three of the companies have pointed to their AI capabilities as they look to stave off competition from
Microsoft
and each other.
Elsewhere, Ives also likes data-analytics company
Palantir Technologies
and cloud-based database firm
MongoDB.
“We believe a short covering for the ages for the tech sector into year-end is well underway as the fundamental picture for growth tech
stocks is rock solid based on our recent checks in the field,” Ives wrote.
Write to Adam Clark at [email protected]
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