The market is no longer a one-trick show led by the Magnificent Seven, the group of mega-cap tech giants that have defined U.S. stock performance since the early 2020s.
For years, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Meta (NASDAQ: META) and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) set the pace for Wall Street.
But now, that dominance is starting to crack as investors look beyond Big Tech for the next source of growth, as highlighted by Bank of America's top investment strategist, Michael Hartnett.
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Main Street over elites
Analysts led by Hartnett told clients in their latest report that the"[f]lip from asset-light to asset-heavy business model suggests major threat to 2020s market leadership of Big Tech/Magnificent 7."
"We are long Main St, short Wall St until Trump approval rating up on policy pivot to address affordability,"Harnett wrote.
Main Street includes small businesses, regional banks, and everyday workers who actually make and spend things.
Wall Street represents the global elite, comprising banking giants and financiers.
Hartnett's message is simple: markets are starting to price a political and economic pivot toward affordability. And that, he says, is how big regime shifts always start. Slowly, then suddenly.
A growing risk lies with the former market darlings. Hartnett warns of a structural shift from asset-light to asset-heavy business models.
AI hyperscalers are projected to spend $670 billion on capital expenditure in 2026 — roughly 96% of their cash flow, up from 40% in 2023. That leaves once cash-rich giants like the Magnificent Seven carrying heavier and messier balance sheets with fewer buybacks to support stock prices.
According to Hartnett, Wall Street isn't abandoning AI, but it's rotating from AI spenders to AI beneficiaries, from services to manufacturing, and from hype to hard cash flow.
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From megacaps to Main Street
Since Donald Trump' s return to the White House in January 2025, the so-called "Bro Billionaire" basket has gained roughly 6%, while U.S. small caps (tracked by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF) are up closer to 13%.
The basket is an equal mix of Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVIDIA), Meta, Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR), Tesla, ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA: ARKK), Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO), Blackstone (NYSE: BX), Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and Bitcoin (BTC).
With inflation easing, AI adoption cooling labor demand and affordability issues taking center stage, Hartnett believes the rotation from Wall Street to Main Street is just beginning.
Is Crypto the next safe bet?
Hartnett's call comes as digital assets weather one of their sharpest corrections in years.
Last week, Bitcoin (BTC) fell close to $60,000, its lowest level since October 2024, and nearly 50% below its 2025 peak of $124,000.
Crypto stocks like Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) and Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) also faced steep selling pressure as analysts trimmed targets before earnings.
Still, not every analyst is bearish.
In a recent note, JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said Bitcoin now looks more attractive than gold on a volatility-adjusted basis, even amid the downturn.
If Hartnett is right that markets are entering a Main Street over Wall Street era, Bitcoin's decentralized, anti-elite narrative could find new relevance, this time, not as speculation, but as part of a broader realignment in where capital and trust flow next.
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This story was originally published by TheStreet on Feb 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the Trading News & Analysis section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
