Out with the new, and in with the old – why analysts say old economy stocks could thrive this year.
Stocks look set to wobble Tuesday after a strong start to the week. Sizeable geopolitical upheaval aided gains for some sectors that weren’t big leaders in 2025 – financials, consumer and energy.
In our call of the day, a trio of market veterans led by “Big Short” investor Steve Eisman discuss a coming shift in the AI focus this year, and some of those old economy stocks that they say could get a chance to shine.
Appearing on a Real Eisman Playbook podcast – Eisman was, known for his successful bets against the housing market ahead of its 2008 collapse – were Chris Verrone, partner at macro research firm Strategas and Wedbush Securities analyst and tech bull Dan Ives.
Diving right into their predictions for this year, here’s Verrone: “I believe we’re in this handoff in the first half of ’26 from some of the real speculative parts of the economy to the real economy,” he said. “I think this is transports, regional banks, housing, chemicals and commodities having their say here.”
Those sectors have “largely been off the playing field for the two, three, four years,” he said, but added some of those stocks could be considered “AI derivatives.”
Eisman and Verrone are fans of financials, with Verrone noting how Bank of America stock (BAC) closed at its first high since November 2006 last month. He sees a deregulatory regime coming for financials, and both he and Eisman anticipate 2026 could bring mergers between regional banks.
Verrone also likes alternative private capital stocks such as Apollo Global Management (APO) and Blackstone (BX), which have been beaten down due to credit scares in the autumn.
Healthcare is also a story that’s not going away for Verrone, who highlights names such as Eli Lilly (LLY) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG).
Seguing into bitcoin (BTCUSD), Verrone said weakness in recent months is telling investors that “there’s this handoff happening to the real economy stocks.” Bitcoin remains well off a $125,000 October high.
While bitcoin could recover back to $105,000 or $110,000, he said that weakness could be “the first tell that 2026 is not about owning purely liquidity-driven, high beta, speculative assets, it’s about owning real stuff.”
Ives meanwhile, dives into his specialty, tech stocks, where he forecasts 20%-plus gains in 2026. He highlights Palantir (PLTR), Snowflake (SNOW) and MongoDB (MDB) as AI beneficiaries, but also sees cybersecurity companies as overlooked.
For large cap, Ives expects Oracle (ORCL) and Microsoft (MSFT) could be “significant outperformers” over the next year, and “Apple (AAPL) is going to get into the AI game with the Gemini partnership,” referring to a rumored linkup with Google on AI. He said Apple could see a “massive move,” this year – Verrone also said he “loves” the iPhone maker’s chart.
Read: Wedbush’s Dan Ives lists his top 5 AI stocks for 2026, and Nvidia isn’t one of them
The trio stressed that energy availability remains a big risk for the AI trade. Eisman pointed to the fact that two fully functional data centers in Santa Clara, Calif. can’t “plug in,” because the utility there can’t provide power.
“I think there’s a legitimate argument to be said that some of this stuff may take longer thank people think and that would cause a delay,” and a correction for stocks, Eisman said.
Ives also agrees on the power shortage, and for that reason is keen on nuclear energy, and on this point Verrone flags another turn he’s seeing, the strength in commodities, such as metals in the past few months.
Rio Tinto (RIO), BHP (BHP), Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) and even energy stocks could be viewed as third or fourth-derivative AI plays, said the strategist. Oil producers are outperforming the price of crude because the break-even price for production is falling, he added.
The markets
U.S. stock futures (ES00) (YM00) (NQ00) are struggling for traction after the Dow industrials DJIA logged its first record of 2026. Silver (SI00) is up, along with copper (HG00), and crude prices (CL00) are also turning higher. China stocks XX:000300 reached a four-year high.
The buzz
At CES in Vegas, Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said the company’s powerful new Vera Rubin platform of AI chips “is in full production.” Also at the tech show, Advanced Micro Device’s (AMD) chief showed off a next-generation chip lineup.
Under Armour shares (UAA) are climbing on news the “Warren Buffett of Canada” is continuing to build a big stake in the athleisure group.
Vistra stock (VST) is rising after the power generation company announced a $4 billion deal for Cogentrix Energy, gaining 10 natural gas-fired facilities.
Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin will speak at 8 a.m.
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The chart
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The chart from Bank of America comes alongside a rare double downgrade for German sportswear maker Adidas, with analysts declaring the end of the 20-year casualization trend, and saying a turnaround story for the company was over months ago.
Top tickers
These were the top-searched tickers on MarketWatch as of 6 a.m.:
AI policed report claims officer turned into a frog.
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