Tech executives may be warming to Donald Trump’s return to the White House as his quick win sparks optimism for more spending and dealmaking.
“Business does a lot better when uncertainty goes away,” IBM (IBM) CEO Arvind Krishna told me at Yahoo Finance’s Invest conference this past week. “We are hopeful that there is going to be a lot more innovation and less regulation. Those are both good for businesses across the board.”
Krishna believes a lighter regulatory environment will prompt clients to make investment decisions more quickly and also lay the groundwork for a more favorable deal environment.
“If we have more certainty on the outcome, then we are willing to lean into things like M&A … If the regulatory process and antitrust are going to be more certain, that allows you to take more risk,” Krishna added.
A shift toward less regulation would be a dramatic change for the industry, which has faced intense scrutiny from the Biden administration. Under FTC Chair Lina Khan’s leadership, regulators aggressively pursued cases against the industry’s biggest companies, including Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Meta (META), and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL).
Trump, on the other hand, has promised to cut excess red tape, including his promise to throw out Biden’s executive order aimed at putting safety guardrails on AI — a move that would be viewed as controversial by those within the industry.
While Trump’s antitrust agendas remain uncertain, there seems to be growing optimism that he’ll employ a more hands-off approach compared to Biden.
“We expect tech stocks to rally further into year-end as the Street further digests a less regulatory spider web under Trump with Khan/FTC days in the rear view mirror, stronger AI initiatives within the Beltway on the way, and a goldilocks foundation for Big Tech and Tesla looking into 2025 and beyond,” Wedbush’s Dan Ives wrote in a recent note to clients.
Cisco (CSCO) CFO Scott Herren is confident in the company’s momentum heading into 2025. He told me on Yahoo Finance’s Catalysts that he feels “really good” about Cisco’s position, noting “strength across the board.”
“It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen from a political standpoint, but when you look at the things that are going to drive government efficiency, we’ve got the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that’s about increasing productivity, and technology is always going to be critical to increasing productivity,” Herren said.
Despite optimism from tech leaders, investor sentiment seems a bit more cautious. Performance of the Magnificent Seven stocks, outside of Tesla, has been lackluster since Election Day, hampered by risks associated with a stronger dollar and more tariffs.
That could change quickly, Defiance ETFs CEO Sylvia Jablonski told me. AI, which has “essentially been all the rage” on Wall Street, remains in its “infancy,” with vast growth potential ahead, he said.
And IBM’s Krishna echoed this sentiment, citing AI as a key catalyst not only for IBM’s stock but the US tech sector overall.
“AI spending from our clients is going to increase … And automation spending is going to go up … I think that there is going to be more of an appetite for US technology globally,” Krishna said. “There’s going to be a lot more appetite to go invest in US technology from all over the globe.”
Since the start of the year, IBM shares have climbed more than 25%, outpacing the Nasdaq 100’s (^NDX) 20% jump.
Seana Smith is an anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Smith on Twitter @SeanaNSmith. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email seanasmith@yahooinc.com.
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