Speaker · Updated
Liz Thomas: latest market views
SoFi
Summary
Liz Thomas (also Liz Young Thomas) is SoFi's head of investment strategy and chief market strategist, a former BNY Mellon Investment Management market strategist who hosts SoFi's podcast 'The Important Part'.
Chorus has 8 views from Liz Thomas across 2 episodes on CNBC Halftime Report and CNBC Closing Bell since October 20, 2026. Their latest calls: bullish on Alphabet.
Where they stand
Their latest bullish or bearish call on each company.
- AlphabetBullish ·
What they talk about most
The latest views
Newest first. Every quote is checked against the episode's transcript.
AlphabetBullish
Incumbents that own the customer, like Alphabet, will adapt to AI; don't abandon them yet.
Thomas argues that companies that own the customer still have the opportunity, so she would not jettison them yet. She compares the AI cycle to the internet, when it took ten to fifteen years for brick-and-mortar companies to monetize online sales, but they were not killed off. She expects Alphabet to morph its business model, which is lumpy and will not happen in one quarter, but she would not bet that large cash-rich incumbents disappear. Scott Wapner pushes back that disappear is too strong a word.
“It's those companies that own the customer that still have the opportunity, and I wouldn't jettison them yet. Not at all. Because they do own the customer.”at 9:22
CNBC Halftime Report: Tech Earnings Weigh on the AI Trade 10/29/26 ·
Investors are rotating into value, quality and low volatility; momentum has been left for dead.
Thomas points to the factors investors have rotated into this year. Momentum has been all but left for dead, while value, quality and low volatility are leading. From this she argues investors should be careful where they put their dollars and focus on high-quality, sometimes low-volatility companies. She expects the market to remain lumpy through the end of the year and into 2027 because AI is no longer a blanket buy.
“If you just look at the factors that investors have rotated into, momentum has been all but left for dead. We've got value. We've got quality. We've got low vol leading that.”at 24:40
CNBC Halftime Report: Tech Earnings Weigh on the AI Trade 10/29/26 ·
AI is early in its innings, with a long way to go before it is integrated into the economy and profitable.
Thomas separates AI as a technology from AI as an investment theme. She thinks AI is still in the early innings and has a long way to go to be integrated into the economy and businesses, creating profitability for many sectors if not every single sector. On the market side, investors are now more discerning, and simply saying AI no longer makes a stock go up.
“I think we have to separate the conversation AI as a theme and a technology, which I do still think is in the early innings, and it has a long way to go to be integrated into our economy and businesses and create profitability for a lot of different sectors.”at 24:40
CNBC Halftime Report: Tech Earnings Weigh on the AI Trade 10/29/26 ·
Treasuries are a really good alternative to equities in the current lumpy tech market.
Thomas agrees with Sechen that fixed income, and treasuries in particular, offer a really good alternative to equities. She says she has been pounding the table on treasuries for about a month. Her broader point is that the AI trade is lumpy and no longer rewards anything labeled AI, so investors should be careful where they put dollars and treasuries provide a sound alternative.
“fixed income, particularly treasuries, which I've been pounding the table about for the last month or so, are offering a really good alternative.”at 24:40
CNBC Halftime Report: Tech Earnings Weigh on the AI Trade 10/29/26 ·
The AI trade is cracking and the cycle is maturing, with a possible painful rerating ahead.
She sees cracks in semiconductors and neocloud businesses, and some of this year's high-flying trades have broken down. She argues that markets move before fundamentals, so the market's cracks matter. She says the cycle has moved faster than past ones and is further along than it was two years ago, citing 1990s-style corrections. She says nothing is in a bear market yet and the fundamentals still hold, but there is a decent chance this is a painful pause and a painful rerating later in the cycle.
“Some of the places that have been those highfalutin trades for the most of this year have cracked, but nothing is in a terrible bear market at this point. I do think that there's still a decent chance that this is painful pause, and it's a painful rerating as we get later in the cycle.”at 16:40
AnthropicUncertain
Anthropic's IPO may not be the blockbuster the market expects, given concerns about its numbers.
She is not calling the investment bad, but she doubts people will pile in to buy the IPO and push it up several times in the first months. The market expects a huge deal, but she says there is already some concern over what the numbers might look like and how impressive they will be. She says it is hard to judge a deal that is engineered to begin with.
“I don't know that that's as true as what the market expects. I'm not saying it's a bad investment, but I don't know that we can say without a doubt that Anthropic and OpenAI are gonna have these blockbuster IPOs.”at 19:52
AI infrastructure & data centers
The build-out, not the model makers, is keeping the AI trade afloat, but revenue must justify the spending.
Energy demand, semiconductors, memory and compute demand across the ecosystem are what keep the market afloat, more than the companies building the models. Her concern is the medium and longer term. If revenue doesn't justify the spending, there is a problem. Revenue could slow if demand is saturated with models, and if capital markets stop rewarding AI companies, that would pressure their ability to keep increasing spending.
“And I think right now, what's keeping the market afloat is the build out, not necessarily the companies that are building the models.”at 20:45
With the Fed in a hiking bias and yields high, bonds are a decent alternative to stocks.
She argues investors need to protect themselves while the Fed is in a hiking bias. Yields are at higher levels than in recent years, and those yields offer a decent alternative to stocks. As a result, she says investors should have exposure on both sides, balancing AI-theme exposure with other holdings.
“you have to protect, especially in a period when the Fed is in a hiking bias. We have yields at higher levels than we've seen and then investors have had to grapple with, and they are offering a decent alternative to stocks.”at 22:18
Shows
- CNBC Halftime Report · 1 episode
- CNBC Closing Bell · 1 episode
Ask your AI what Liz Thomas thinks
Chorus gives Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants every view Liz Thomas has shared on the shows it covers, next to everyone else's. Ask where they stand, what changed, and who disagrees.
Chorus reports what speakers said. It isn't investment advice.