Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management and CNBC PRO contributor , said Tuesday the most important theme for the stock market right now is not tariffs, but rather artificial intelligence. “The most important thing to come out of this past earnings report is that AI is more important than tariffs to the stock market,” Brown said on CNBC’s ” Halftime Report .” Citing JPMorgan research, the widely followed investor noted that the term “AI” was mentioned 2.6 times more often than the word “tariff” in this last round of S & P 500 earnings reports. Brown said those Big Tech companies affirming or even raising guidance saved the entire stock market from the massive turmoil in April. For example, Microsoft issued surprisingly strong guidance at the end of April, lifting shares up more than 20% this quarter. Meta was one of the companies that increased its 2025 capital expenditures. “This is an AI driven tape. This is still the most important theme in the entire market,” Brown said. “Yes, there are other themes. Yes, there are other sectors doing well, but absent AI, there’s just no chance that we would have pulled this this spring out of the hole the way that we have, and that’s because of the affirmed guidance.” Brown said he’s bullish on chipmaker Nvidia headed into its quarterly earnings next week, calling it the most important company in the AI story. “It’s the sun, and AI is a solar system, revolving around it,” Brown said, referring to Nvidia. (For “The Best Stocks in the Market” from Josh Brown and team, see here.) All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL’S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. INVESTING INVOLVES RISK. EXAMPLES OF ANALYSIS CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE ONLY EXAMPLES. THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE CONTRIBUTORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OFFICIAL POLICY OR POSITION OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC. JOSH BROWN IS THE CEO OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT AND MAY MAINTAIN A SECURITY POSITION IN THE SECURITIES DISCUSSED. ASSUMPTIONS MADE WITHIN THE ANALYSIS ARE NOT REFLECTIVE OF THE POSITION OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC” TO THE END OF OR OUR DISCLOSURE. Click here for the full disclaimer.
Josh Brown says AI is more important than tariffs to the stock market
May 20, 2025
