Julie Biel, CFA, Chief Market Strategist, joined Bloomberg Radio to discuss the challenges of predicting AI’s long-term winners, how higher interest rates are affecting small-cap companies, and what she wants to see from earnings growth.
Finding the Beneficiaries of AI
There’s no denying the significant potential for AI, but Julie cautions that predicting exactly how the technology will reshape industries remains difficult. Rather than focusing exclusively on the “picks and shovels” of the buildout, she favors companies that can integrate AI in to their businesses and use it to improve profitability.
Higher Rates Require a More Nuanced View
Higher interest rates can be particularly challenging for small-cap companies with significant leverage and variable-rate debt. Julie notes that the reason rates are rising matters: higher rates accompanied by strong economic growth and labor markets create a very different environment than rates driven primarily by inflation.
Will Earnings Growth Broaden?
While recent earnings numbers have been eye-popping, Julie points out that growth remains concentrated in technology and energy and that greater breadth across manufacturing and other pockets of the economy would help reinforce the durability of the earnings backdrop.
Listen to the episode to hear Julie Biel’s complete perspective.
Recorded on September 30, 2026.
