2024 is the year of the dragon in the Chinese Zodiac.
Similarly, there’s a fire inside the technology sector in the form of artificial intelligence (AI) and its flames are growing ever larger.
Such is the importance of AI in the tech sector that it will be the key to tech stock growth and overall demand in the year ahead, according to a recent enterprise survey conducted by Wedbush.
According to the poll, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) “is taking the clear lead in the AI arms race” given its close association with ChatGPT developer OpenAI.
Microsoft’s exclusive integration of ChatGPT into its suite of products is now well underway and “the company has a significant AI monetisation opportunity” within its Azure cloud-computing service, said Wedbush.
Though Microsoft is a frontrunner in the AI revolution, Wedbush analysts believe the tech sector as a whole stands to benefit from the burgeoning field of innovation.
The analysts said: “In our opinion, the new tech bull market has now begun and tech stocks are set up for a strong 2024 led by Big Tech, software, and the overall chip sector as the AI spending tidal wave hits the shores of the broader tech sector.
“We believe now the rest of the tech sector joins the Magnificent 7 party in this rally into 2024 with AI tailwinds abound.”
Among the Magnificent 7 stocks, Google parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) was also viewed by survey participants as a major generative AI player as it further improves its core technology platform.
Wedbush also predicted a “tidal wave” of mergers and acquisitions in the software and microchip sectors.
Outside of the Magnificent 7, Wedbush cited Palo Alto, Palantir, Zscaler, CyberArk, Crowdstrike and MongoDB as major AI beneficiaries in the year ahead.