Brenon Daly directs the financial analysis of the 451 Research Market Insight and M&A KnowledgeBase products within S&P Global Market Intelligence. He is responsible for all financial coverage within those product lines, as well as supporting investment- and acquisition-related activity by investment banking and private capital clients. Brennon arrived at S&P Global Market Intelligence through its 2019 acquisition of 451 Research. Before joining 451 Research in mid-2006, Brenon worked at research boutique for technology-focused hedge funds, as well as trading equity and options on his own book. Brenon began his career in 1991 as a founding reporter at the first English-language newspaper in the former Eastern Bloc. Brenon moved to Vienna in 1995 to run the local bureau for United Press International before taking on an analyst position with the Economist Group, where he researched and wrote reports for The Economist Intelligence Unit and the regional publication of The Economist. In addition to earning a degree from the University of Kansas, Brenon studied at the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) and the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria).
Tech vendors are finding that they can do just fine without M&A, at least as far as Wall Street is concerned. Shares of most of the market's big-name buyers have never been worth more, while the companies themselves have never relied less on deals. After years of expansion through acquisition, organic growth is now the priority.
Despite many of the political and economic uncertainties seemingly being resolved in November, tech M&A continued to struggle. Spending on deals last month plunged to its lowest level in a year and a half. Call it micro relief from macro pressures in the market.
For all the promise of generative AI "auto-magically" automating all kinds of work, there's still a human in the loop for most of the technology. And, increasingly, those humans are joining the GenAI giants through deals that aren't really deals. "Acqui-hires" are a popular way for Big Tech to get the needed talent without getting the unwanted regulatory scrutiny.
Investors are record-shatteringly bullish on the US election results. But so far, the "Trump trade" hasn't made its way over to the related M&A market. It may that be the enthusiasm around the changes in Washington takes a bit longer to show up in Silicon Valley. It could be, however, that tech dealmakers never get much of a relief rally at all.
Between elections and a central bank meeting, it's a busy week for the big picture. Both events were years in the making and will go a long way toward shaping the macroeconomic environment for some time to come. The rare confluence of two big market movers has left Wall Street polarized and a bit paralyzed.
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