Not even two full trading weeks into 2026 and the good news is already piling up for a slew of big name technology stocks. That brings benefits to investors engaged with the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM).
Nvidia (NVDA) got the ball rolling last week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), drawing considerable praise from sell-side analysts. It’s the largest holding in the two Invesco ETFs. One day into this week, and there’s already evidence of more positivity from QQQ/QQQM bellwether holdings.
On Monday Apple (AAPL) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), two of the largest holdings in QQQ and QQQM, announced that “Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology.”
“After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users. Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standard,” said the companies in a joint statement.
Good Vibes for QQQ
With the help of Apple news, Alphabet’s market capitalization topped $4 trillion for the first time, making it the fourth U.S. company to accomplish that feat. The other three are Apple, Microsoft, and Nvida — all QQQ/QQQM holdings.
Speaking of Microsoft, Goldman Sachs reiterated a “buy” rating on that stock Monday while boosting its price target to $655 from $630, implying upside of about 35%.
“Given the unknowns in how the AI ecosystem will evolve, Microsoft has taken steps to win in multiple ways while limiting its downside to any one particular vendor or approach,” noted Goldman analyst Gabriela Borges. “We view several of Microsoft’s investment decisions as creating opportunities for uncapped upside given exposure to secular drivers, while also being executed in a way that limits downside.”
Speaking of analyst chatter affecting QQQ/QQQM holdings, Palantir (PLTR) was upgraded Monday by Citi to “buy” from “neutral” with a nice price target of $235, up from $210. All that after Palantir surged 135% last year. Citi Research analyst Tyler Radke views the QQQ/QQQM holding as another beneficiary of AI expansion, particularly in the defense/national security space.
“The data-analytics company, whose software enables users to comb through vast amounts of information, has been one of the most prominent beneficiaries of the AI boom. The federal government has embraced the technology, bringing it further into the public eye,” reported Barron’s.
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