Wedbush’s Top Tech Predictions for 2020
Wedbush believes that there is clear momentum for the tech stocks as a number of transformational trends will be front and center for Wall Street.
The technology sector had a particularly strong 2019, as did the broad markets in general. With 2020 just underway, the question now is what’s next for the markets, and especially the tech sector. Wedbush believes that there is clear momentum for the tech stocks as a number of transformational trends, such as 5G, cloud, autonomous vehicles and the streaming content wars, will be front and center for Wall Street.
In covering tech stocks for the past two decades, Wedbush’s annual predictions have provided a framework for investors and key themes that have helped define who this firm believes will be the potential winners and losers, including this year.
As for companies, Wedbush predicts that the top name in 5G will be Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction), and top cloud names will be Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW). Wedbush’s top cybersecurity names to play in the cloud trend are CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR), Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) and Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW).
The boutique brokerage firm believes that “Winter Is Coming” for Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK). Specifically, Wedbush thinks that it will be more difficult for Slack to compete with Microsoft and its Teams initiative, given Redmond’s cloud shift/Office 365 upgrades starting to inflect.
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Wedbush offered its top 10 tech predictions for 2020:
- 2020 will be the year of the “5G Super Cycle” and Apple will be the clear winner.
- FAANG regulatory headwinds result in fines, but NO business model changes.
- Tesla will find success in China with Giga 3 and potentially hit the key 100k delivery number quicker than the US/Europe trajectory and be a demand tailwind.
- Microsoft/Nadella will win the next stage of the cloud war vs. Bezos/Amazon.
- The streaming wars will result in clear winners/losers with Disney and Iger the juggernaut that will help disrupt 10%+ of Netflix’s installed base.
- 2020 will be the year of consolidation in cyber security as we believe both financial and strategic buyers will be aggressively looking at acquiring public/private vendors.
- Uber will need to significantly curtail/possibly shut down Uber Eats given the lack of profitability and competitive headwinds in this business segment.
- FAANG tech stalwarts such as Google, Amazon, and Apple further expand into healthcare and banking verticals through both organic as well as acquisitions to broaden their monetization engines and consumer product footprint.
- AB5 California legislation will be a major “gut punch” to the Gig Economy and throw a major wrench in the business models of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and other players once passed (with all eyes on the impending court battle).
- Google and its major cloud initiative, GCP, will potentially make a major strategic acquisition of a public cloud vendor to catalyze Kurian’s efforts chasing after the likes of Microsoft and AWS in the $1 trillion cloud race.
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Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.
When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.
