We’re hitting the ground running in 2026. The first weekend of the new year was chock-full of geopolitical intrigue, which has (so far) been bullish for domestic Energy-sector stocks.
But don’t turn your back on the AI mega-trend. Major gains have been seen in tech, particularly outside the U.S. It hits on a central price-action theme from 2025: outperformance among international equities. Does that trend keep up this year? Investors will surely get plenty of opinions at conferences in the weeks ahead.
Tech Took Center Stage at CES
Indeed, it’s a jam-packed slate of Q1 corporate gatherings. This week’s headliner was CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show), held in Las Vegas. NVIDIA (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang gave the keynote on Monday afternoon, after what has been a lackluster few months for NVDA shares.
Competition is the word of the moment within the semiconductor space. Alphabet’s (GOOGL) in-house chips and rising demand for Broadcom’s (AVGO) custom GPUs and TPUs have put the heat on the world’s most valuable company. Key clues about the future of AI and the risks that could emerge for the broader Information Technology sector could be revealed at upcoming conferences.
Health Care in the Spotlight
And then there’s Health Care. Next week, JPMorgan (JPM) hosts its Annual Health Care Conference—among the most highly anticipated events of the year. Large-cap pharma continues to deal with a volatile, changing regulatory environment, while biotech stocks have been on a heater since the middle of 2025. Insurance providers, meanwhile, appear to be in the Trump administration’s crosshairs. It is a midterm election year, mind you.
Banks: Quiet Winners, Global Reach
Speaking of JPM, the big banks were quiet winners last year. Uptrending stock and bond markets, a solid year for IPOs, and booming M&A activity were catalysts. Citigroup (C) led, up almost 70% in 2025, while Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPM returned about 35%, dividends included. Financial institutions around the world stood out, too.
We don’t talk about them much, but HSBC, Allianz, Banco Santander, UBS, BBVA, BNP Paribas, and Barclays collectively tallied massive annual returns. So, we’ll mention a handful of overseas Financial Services conferences in today’s Q1 outlook.
Metals & Mining Ride Strong Tailwinds
Maybe the most upbeat conference ballrooms will be those occupied by CEOs and CFOs from the Metals & Mining industry. Gold and silver posted their best years since 1979, with incredible upside price action from August through mid-December. A year-end stumble has already been partly reversed in the first handful of 2026 sessions.
Record-high spot metal prices, low energy costs, and steady labor expenses appear to be the ideal recipe for the miners.
Asset Allocation Questions Grow Louder
Zooming out, investors will have their ears out for tidbits regarding asset allocation in light of recent trends:
- The equity bull market is now more than three years old.
- U.S. bonds boasted a 7% total return in 2025.
- Emerging markets are finally within earshot of all-time highs (from five years ago).
- The dollar dropped in the first half of 2025, then steadied.
Indeed, investment-specific conferences will be particularly eye-opening in the months ahead.
Macro Forces Shape the Narrative
Finally, the macro pot is sufficiently stirred. A changing Fed makeup, resilient U.S. GDP growth, cooling inflation (hopefully), and the K-shaped consumer backdrop are bullet points that will surely litter conference slide decks—we’ll opine on those issues this year, too, of course. And we hate to say it, but another government shutdown can’t be ruled out.
Lots to unpack. Here are the major Q1 investor conferences to mark on your calendar:
Information Technology & Communication Services
January 5-7: CES
January 8: Needham 28th Annual Technology and Growth Conference
February 26: Susquehanna 15th Annual Technology Conference
March 2: Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT) Conference
March 10: Citi TMT Conference
Health Care
January 11: Sachs 9th Annual Neuroscience Innovation Forum
January 12: JP Morgan 44th Annual Healthcare Conference
March 2: TD Cowen 46th Annual Healthcare Conference
March 10: Barclays 28th Annual Global Healthcare Conference
March 10: Jefferies Biotech on the Bay Summit
March 11: DNB Carnegie Healthcare Conference
March 24: BNP Paribas Healthcare Conference
Consumer Discretionary & Consumer Staples
January 11: NRF Retail’s Big Show
January 12: ICR 28th Annual Conference
January 14: Evercore ISI Retail Summit
February 17: Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) Conference
March 11: UBS Annual Global Consumer and Retail Conference
Financials & Real Estate
January 28: 3rd Annual DealFlow Discovery Conference
February 6: World Outlook Financial Conference
February 10: Bank of America US Financial Services Conference
February 12: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) Winter Financial Services Conference
March 10: RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference
Industrials
January 5-7: Bank of America Defense Outlook and Commercial Aerospace Forum
February 17: Citi Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference
February 18: Barclays 43rd Annual Industrial Select Conference
March 17: Bank of America Global Industrials Conference
March 17: JP Morgan Industrials Conference
March 25: Bank of America Infrastructure Conference London
Energy & Utilities
January 8: Evercore Power Conference
January 12: UBS Global Energy & Utilities Winter Conference
March 2: JEF Flagship Power, Utilities, Clean Energy & Energy Flagship Conference
March 4: Jefferies Power, Utilities and Clean Energy Conference
March 16: Piper Sandler 26th Annual Energy Conference
March 23: CERA Week
Materials
January 20: Red Cloud Virtual Institutional Precious Metals Producer Day
January 23: Metals Investor Forum Vancouver
January 27: TD Cowen 17th Annual Global Mining Conference
February 22: BMO Capital Markets 35th Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference
February 27: Metals Investor Forum Toronto
Regional
January 12: UBS Greater China Conference
February 24: Goldman Sachs European Technology Conference
March 2: Morgan Stanley European Healthcare Conference
March 3: UBS European Healthcare Conference
March 4: Berenberg EU Opportunities Conference
March 11: JPMorgan Taiwan CEO-CFO Conference
March 17: Morgan Stanley European Financials Conference
March 18: Bank of America Securities Asia Tech Conference
Investor-Specific & Multi-Sector
January 14: Bank of America SMID C-Suite Conference
January 19: World Economic Forum Week
January 21: Sidoti January Micro-Cap Conference
February 4: Oppenheimer 11th Annual Emerging Growth Conference
March 2: JP Morgan Global High Yield & Leveraged Finance Conference
March 9: Loop Capital Markets 7th Annual Investor Conference
March 22: ROTH Capital Partners 38th Annual Investment Growth Stock Conference
Twitter: @ChristineLShort
The author may hold positions in mentioned securities. Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of any other person or entity.
