Trade Tracker: Stephanie Link sells Microsoft

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 16, 2026 at 18:00  |  4:25  |  CNBC
Speakers
Stephanie Link — Chief Investment Strategist, Hightower
Jason Yanowitz — Co-Founder, Blockworks
Josh — CEO, Walt Disney Company (The)
Scott Wapner — Host, CNBC

Summary

In this Halftime Report segment, Stephanie Link explains why she is selling Microsoft, rotating into energy/commodities and Broadcom, while holding Meta and Amazon despite frustration with their price action. Jason defends owning Microsoft and staying patient on its growth. Josh expects chip strength to telegraph strong tech earnings but cautions that mega-cap tech earnings may not produce the rallies investors hope for.

  • Stephanie Link sells Microsoft on weak price action and unappealing valuation.
  • She is adding to energy/commodity-cycle exposure, including Chevron and SLB.
  • She is watching Dow Chemical and prefers Broadcom over Microsoft.
  • She remains invested in Meta and Amazon for growth and monetization reasons.
  • Jason stays patient on Microsoft, citing revenue and EPS growth.
  • Josh expects chips to telegraph a strong tech earnings season.
  • Josh warns mega-cap tech earnings may not guarantee stock rallies.
Ideas
Stephanie Link Chief Investment Strategist, Hightower 0:16
Selling Microsoft; valuation not compelling.
She is selling or reducing Microsoft because although the last quarter was good, the stock has not acted well and she was down about 2%; valuation is not compelling and she would rather own Broadcom or other areas.
MSFT HIGH
Stephanie Link Chief Investment Strategist, Hightower 0:33
Energy and commodity cycle have legs.
She has been adding to energy positions and is looking at the commodity cycle, which she believes has legs as part of a rotation away from megacap tech.
XLE DBC MED
Stephanie Link Chief Investment Strategist, Hightower 0:35
Added Chevron three times on commodity cycle.
She added to Chevron three times as part of her energy exposure and her view that the commodity cycle has legs.
CVX MED
Stephanie Link Chief Investment Strategist, Hightower 0:37
Added SLB as energy-cycle play.
She added to SLB last week as another energy and commodity-cycle position.
SLB MED
Stephanie Link Chief Investment Strategist, Hightower 0:40
Watching Dow Chemical for commodity cycle.
She is looking at Dow Chemical now as part of the commodity cycle, which she thinks has legs.
DOW LOW
Stephanie Link Chief Investment Strategist, Hightower 0:58
Prefer Broadcom; margins, FCF, buybacks.
She prefers Broadcom over Microsoft because it has industry-high margins and free cash flow, AI and software/VMware diversification, strong management, and heavy buybacks; the stock has been down since December earnings.
AVGO HIGH
Stephanie Link Chief Investment Strategist, Hightower 1:23
Meta too cheap for growth.
She owns Meta and, despite frustration with the stock, thinks it is too cheap at around 11 times PEG for its growth and monetization, with time spent up 5-7% over the last couple of quarters.
META MED
Stephanie Link Chief Investment Strategist, Hightower 1:45
Amazon wins via AWS, retail, ads.
She owns Amazon and sees three ways to win: AWS is accelerating, retail is growing much faster than peers, and advertising is up 22%; the stock has been frustratingly flat over the past year.
AMZN HIGH
Jason Yanowitz Co-Founder, Blockworks 2:14
Stay patient on Microsoft growth.
He owns Microsoft and will stay patient despite weak price action, an expensive valuation, and OpenAI-related drag; he points to 18% revenue growth and 25% EPS growth at this size, plus possible PC market lift.
MSFT MED
Josh CEO, Walt Disney Company (The) 3:25
Chips telegraph strong tech earnings.
He expects a strong tech earnings season because chip names are telegraphing it: investors are buying chips with abandon, the Micron rally is notable, and there is no industry commentary about a slowdown from last quarter.
SMH MED
Josh CEO, Walt Disney Company (The) 4:05
Mega-cap tech rallies not guaranteed.
Even if mega-cap tech reports great earnings, he warns that strong results may not produce 12-14% rallies as they did not work last time, so he is cautious on expecting mega-cap tech earnings to lift the group.
Mega-Cap Tech MED
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This CNBC video, published January 16, 2026, features Stephanie Link, Jason Yanowitz, Josh discussing MSFT, XLE, DBC, CVX, SLB, DOW, AVGO, META, AMZN, SMH, Mega-Cap Tech. 11 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Stephanie Link, Jason Yanowitz, Josh  · Tickers: MSFT, XLE, DBC, CVX, SLB, DOW, AVGO, META, AMZN, SMH, Mega-Cap Tech