The story of the stock market in 2025 is its ability to advance even as big technology names stalled, according to Josh Brown , CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management. Warnings that the entire market would struggle if big tech names or artificial intelligence plays fell never materialized, Brown said. Instead, he said, investors rotated out of any struggling names into pockets of strength outside of the sector. “They warned us repeatedly, day in, day out: Just you wait, once this whole AI thing collapses, or once the tech bubble bursts, or once Apple stumbles, or Meta stumbles or Microsoft , you’re in big trouble. The whole market is going to get taken down,” Brown said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.” “It was the opposite.” “Some of the biggest stocks on Earth had horrible years relative to the rest of the market,” he added. “As their market cap bled out like from a wounded animal, we found other places to go.” For every skyrocketing tech stock this year like Palantir and Broadcom , well-known names such as Salesforce have hit road bumps, Brown said. Palantir and Broadcom have surged more than 140% and 50% in 2025, respectively, while Salesforce has fallen around 20%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has jumped more than 21% this year, outperforming the broad S & P 500’s year-to-date gain of more than 17%. ‘We have had dozens and dozens of record-high closes, and that is with some of the largest stocks in pretty substantial drawdowns,” Brown said. Outside of tech, Brown said that traders shifted exposure to banks, health-care names and gold miners. What has made 2025 unique, he said, was that investors didn’t have to be overweight on AI stocks to ride the market higher. “This is the beauty of this year for investors,” Brown said. “There was money to be made all over the place.” DISCLOSURES: All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL’S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. INVESTING INVOLVES RISK. EXAMPLES OF ANALYSIS CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE ONLY EXAMPLES. THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE CONTRIBUTORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OFFICIAL POLICY OR POSITION OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC. JOSH BROWN IS THE CEO OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT AND MAY MAINTAIN A SECURITY POSITION IN THE SECURITIES DISCUSSED. ASSUMPTIONS MADE WITHIN THE ANALYSIS ARE NOT REFLECTIVE OF THE POSITION OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC” TO THE END OF OR OUR DISCLOSURE. Click here for the full disclaimer.
