Trump Trade: Sacks named to be White House AI and Crypto Czar

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President-elect Trump with this daily recap compiled by The Fly:

AI & CRYPTO CZAR: President-elect Donald Trump announced that David O. Sacks will be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar.” Trump said: “In this important role, David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness. David will focus on making America the clear global leader in both areas. He will safeguard Free Speech online, and steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship. He will work on a legal framework so the Crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the U.S. David will also lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology… David has the knowledge, business experience, intelligence, and pragmatism to MAKE AMERICA GREAT in these two critical technologies. Congratulations, David!” Sacks is a longtime venture capitalist who worked with Elon Musk at PayPal (PYPL) more than two decades ago, The Wall Street Journal noted.

Publicly traded companies in the cryptocurrency space include Bit Digital (BTBT), Bitfarms (BITF), Coinbase (COIN), Core Scientific (CORZ), Greenidge Generation (GREE), Mara Holdings (MARA), MicroStrategy (MSTR), Riot Platforms (RIOT), Stronghold Digital Mining (SDIG) and TeraWulf (WULF).

ALPHABET CEO ‘OPTIMISTIC’: At the DealBook Summit, Alphabet (GOOGL) CEO Pichai expressed optimism about President-elect Donald Trump, who has publicly expressed skepticism about the possibility of a Google corporate split, though Pichai said he had not discussed the litigation with the president-elect since the election. The two men had spoken about energy and the need to innovate to build things, and Pichai expressed optimism about Trump’s plans, Pichai said. “There are areas where he’s thinking about, and committed to, making a difference, so hopefully we can make progress there,” Pichai said, adding that Trump is focused on the need for American competitiveness on AI.

STOCK COVERAGE, RATING CHANGES:

• BMO Capital downgraded Prologis (PLD) to Underperform from Market Perform with a price target of $104, down from $120. Prologis is a “world-class company with a moat business,” but its valuation screens expensive, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The Trump tariffs adds further uncertainty, the firm adds.
• Bernstein initiated coverage of EQT Corporation (EQT) with a Market Perform rating and $50 price target. The Trump Trade has enriched “gassy” E&Ps and EQT’s multiple has risen ahead of its gassy E&P peers and its “even more oily” peers within the firm’s coverage, the analyst tells investors in a research note
• Benchmark lowered the firm’s price target on Televisa (TV) to $8 from $11 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm is lowering its 2025 price target to reflect recent peso weakness and the pall from Trump tariff uncertainties, the analyst tells investors.

OTHER NEWS:  TD Cowen told investors in a research note that the Trump Administration is likely to limit the Grad Plus program, which would materially add to SLM‘s (SLM) originations and profitability.