2026 Themes Emerge Leading Into a Busy Q1 Second Half Investor Conference Season

• Software's DeepSeek AI moment, Dow 50k, a yo-yo dollar, and "sell America" are market narratives

• Price action, corporate profits, and perhaps even jobs data buck bearish viewpoints

• Investor conferences through quarter-end offer color on macro risks and opportunities

Is artificial intelligence (AI) eating the software world? That might be the industry-specific question investors, analysts, and executives will toss around in the months ahead. The first week of February was the China DeepSeek AI moment for software-as-a-service companies. Hundreds of billions of dollars of market cap were shed from the likes of Salesforce (CRM), Intuit (INTU), ServiceNow (NOW), Adobe (ADBE), and others. Deep red hit the space just as the AI hyperscalers announced capex numbers well above Street estimates.

Push will come to shove in the weeks ahead as tech executives take questions at key investor conferences over the back half of the first quarter.

Energy and Materials Take the Lead

But there's more to the market's story than just tech. In fact, Information Technology is near the bottom of the S&P 500 YTD sector performance pack. Leading the current leg of the bull market are resource stocks. Energy and Materials, both up by more than 15% in 2026, have outperformed thanks to rising oil and metals prices, a weaker dollar, and the rotation trade.

Interestingly, oil and gas companies are apparently doing more with less—profits and stock prices in the oil patch are up even with historically low WTI and Brent values. CERAWeek is the standout Energy conference to keep tabs on toward the end of March.

Dow 50,000 Challenges the Bear Case

Bigger picture, the "sell America" narrative has carried over from last year. Perhaps this storyline needs to be rebranded as "buy ex-USA." Indeed, International equities have soared just six weeks into 2026. At the same time, with the Dow crossing 50,000 for the first time and the S&P 500 near its record high, it's difficult to put much stock in a bearish USA theme.

What's more, Treasury yields have dipped from a few weeks ago, while U.S. corporate bonds trade close to a multi-decade low yield spread. The dollar, meanwhile, has not been able to get off the mat. The greenback took a spill in late January when President Trump intimated that he would be fine if the dollar declined from its current level.

High-Stakes Q&A Season for Executives

Equity markets and bonds point to a benign backdrop, but CEOs and CFOs face tough choices ahead. The jobs situation is delicate, a strong January payrolls report notwithstanding. Corporate layoff announcements are elevated. And all it takes is one Truth Social post to rejigger an industry.

Upcoming conferences could feature pointed questions for executive teams about their stances on economic and even cultural issues—topics corporate leaders often want to deflect. The stakes are high, drama fills the room, and tough choices must be made. Keep up with the latest developments at this quarter's packed slate of investor conferences.

Information Technology & Communication Services
February 17: Citi Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference
February 25: Susquehanna 15th Annual Technology Conference
March 2: Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT) Conference
March 3: Citizens JMP Technology Conference
March 3: Scotiabank 29th Annual TMT Conference
March 9: Deutsche Bank 34th Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference
March 10: Citi TMT Conference
March 16: NVIDIA GTC AI Conference

Health Care
February 18: Citi Virtual Oncology Leadership Summit
February 25: Oppenheimer 36th Annual Healthcare Life Sciences Conference
March 2: TD Cowen 46th Annual Healthcare Conference
March 10: Citizens JMP Life Sciences Conference
March 10: Barclays 28th Annual Global Healthcare Conference
March 24: BNP Paribas Healthcare Conference
March 26: Goldman Sachs Biopharma Innovation Summit

Consumer Discretionary & Consumer Staples
February 17: Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) Conference
February 17: NAHB International Builders` Show
March 5: Susquehanna Travel, Consumer Tech + Entertainment Forum
March 11: UBS Annual Global Consumer and Retail Conference
March 11: JP Morgan Gaming, Lodging, Restaurant & Leisure Management Access Forum

Financials & Real Estate
February 18: Morgan Stanley Annual Commercial Real Estate Conference
March 3: Citi Global Property CEO Conference
March 10: RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference
March 10: Wolfe Research Fintech Forum
March 20: Citi Global 2nd Financials Conference

Industrials
February 17: Barclays 43rd Annual Industrial Select Conference
March 10: Barclays - Business Services, Leisure, Transport & Infrastructure Conference
March 16: Bank of America - Business Services, Leisure, Transport Conference
March 17: JP Morgan Industrials Conference
March 17: Bank of America Global Industrials Conference
March 24: TD Securities Industrials & Infrastructure Services Conference
March 24: Bank of America Infrastructure Conference

Energy & Utilities
March 2: JEF Flagship Power, Utilities, Clean Energy & Energy Flagship Conference
March 3: Morgan Stanley Global Energy & Power Conference
March 16: Piper Sandler 26th Annual Energy Conference
March 17: UBS Global Energy and Utilities Conference
March 23: CERA Week
March 24: Bank of America Energy, Utilities & Infrastructure Conference

Materials
February 22: BMO Capital Markets 35th Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference
February 25: Bank of America Global Agriculture and Materials Conference
February 27: Metals Investor Forum Toronto

Regional
February 24: Goldman Sachs European Technology Conference
March 2: Morgan Stanley European Healthcare Conference
March 3: UBS European Healthcare Conference
March 4: JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets Corporate Conference
March 17: Morgan Stanley European Financials Conference
March 18: Bank of America Securities Asia Tech Conference
March 18: Bank of America Securities, EMEA Real Estate CEO Conference
March 24: J.P. Morgan European Chemicals Conference
March 25: JP Morgan European Opportunities Conference

Investor-Specific & Multi-Sector
March 1: Raymond James & Associates 47th Annual Institutional Investors Conference
March 1: JP Morgan Global High Yield & Leveraged Finance Conference
March 2: Barclays Investment Grade Credit Conference
March 9: Loop Capital Markets 7th Annual Investor Conference
March 11: Cantor Global Technology & Industrial Growth Conference
March 18: Sidoti March Small Cap Conference

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