CNBC reported that the S&P 500 is up 15 percent year to date as investors have piled into AI-linked names. Those stocks recently sold off on valuation worries, but most remain sharply higher for the year.
Lakos-Bujas acknowledged those concerns, writing that “despite AI bubble and valuation concerns, we see current elevated multiples correctly anticipating above-trend earnings growth, an AI capex boom, rising shareholder payouts, and easier fiscal policy.”
He argued that the market still underestimates how deregulation and broader AI-driven productivity gains could lift earnings.
Positioning for that theme, CNBC said JP Morgan has compiled an AI/datacentre “beneficiaries” basket it believes can outperform in 2026, including Amazon, Nvidia and Google-parent Alphabet.
Amazon shares are up 4.7 percent this year, lagging the S&P 500, Nvidia has climbed more than 32 percent in 2025 despite a pullback in November, and Alphabet has risen more than 70 percent this year after nearly doubling in the past six months.