Significant weakness in labor market is a red flag for markets, says Wilmington Trust's Meghan Shue

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 13, 2026 at 21:15  |  2:42  |  CNBC
Speakers
Meghan Shue — Chief Investment Strategist, Wilmington Trust

Summary

Meghan Shue of Wilmington Trust discusses the start of earnings season and her market outlook. She remains fully allocated to equities but favors higher quality, expecting 2026 earnings growth to possibly exceed consensus while multiple expansion remains limited. She sees labor-market weakness as a red flag but expects a second-half recovery, and she expects the equity market to broaden as non-tech earnings improve. She also notes that tech valuations have moved sideways and that tech debt-market tapping is a watch item.

  • Meghan Shue remains fully allocated to equities with a quality focus.
  • She sees 2026 earnings growth potentially above 13% consensus.
  • Labor-market weakness and stalling are flagged as a red flag.
  • She expects first-half softness followed by a second-half recovery.
  • She expects market broadening as non-tech earnings improve.
  • Tech valuations have moved sideways over two years despite strong earnings.
  • She notes increased tech debt-market tapping as a watch item.
Ideas
Meghan Shue Chief Investment Strategist, Wilmington Trust 1:03
Stay fully allocated, favor high-quality equities
She is staying fully allocated to equities, with a focus on higher quality. Earnings have continued to surprise to the upside with strong beats and upward revisions, and 2026 earnings growth could be closer to 14-15% versus roughly 13% expected. She does not expect much multiple expansion given rich valuations, and she sees labor-market weakness as a red flag, but expects first-half softness followed by a second-half recovery, so quality is preferred within equities.
Equities High-quality equities HIGH
Meghan Shue Chief Investment Strategist, Wilmington Trust 1:42
Tech valuations reasonable, but watch debt
Tech valuations have not materially increased over the past two years and have basically moved sideways because earnings growth has been strong, which she finds encouraging. However, she is watching tech companies increasingly tapping debt markets and does not expect that trend to reverse.
XLK MED
Meghan Shue Chief Investment Strategist, Wilmington Trust 1:54
Non-tech equities lead market broadening
She expects a gradual broadening of equity-market participation and a passing of the baton from tech to non-tech companies. The underlying earnings trend points to better improvement in non-tech parts of the market, and she expects better non-tech earnings growth and convergence with tech.
Non-tech equities HIGH
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This CNBC video, published January 13, 2026, features Meghan Shue discussing Equities, High-quality equities, XLK, Non-tech equities. 3 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Meghan Shue  · Tickers: Equities, High-quality equities, XLK, Non-tech equities