Hightower's Stephanie Link Tells Investors to Add on Volatility
The chief investment strategist pushes buyers toward quality on Squawk Box as earnings season shapes the tape
Photo by Joshua Woroniecki on Unsplash
Hightower's Stephanie Link told CNBC's Squawk Box that investors should use market volatility to add to portfolios as earnings season unfolds.
Link makes the call again
Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist at Hightower, told CNBC's Squawk Box on Monday that investors should use the current volatility to add to their portfolios. She covered the latest market trends and what earnings season has shown so far.
The message is consistent with her recent record on the program. Link has argued for buying weakness in appearances across 2025 and 2026, including a March 2025 segment in which she said she had spent two-thirds of the cash in her portfolio to buy quality on sale. She made a similar case in November 2025 and again in March 2026.
The framing hasn't changed. Swings in the tape are an entry point, not a reason to step aside.
What the earnings tape is telling her
Earnings season is the backdrop for this week's comments. Third-quarter reports are the main source of fresh information on corporate demand, margins and guidance, and they are driving single-stock moves more than macro headlines are.
Link's approach rests on company results over index direction. Her track record on Squawk Box points to a preference for high-quality names with durable earnings, bought when sentiment sours. That is a stock-picker's read of volatility, and it treats a sharp drop in good shares as a pricing opportunity.
She did not call the market cheap in aggregate in the segment summary. The emphasis is on adding selectively.
How the volatility trade is built
Traders who agree with the thesis have a few places to check. The [Earnings Calendar](/earnings-calendar) shows which reports land this week, and the options heatmap reads where implied moves are priced widest. Wide implied moves into a print mean the market expects a sharp reaction, and that is where dips tend to form.
Whale flow adds a second filter. When large premium builds on calls after a post-earnings drop, institutions are leaning into the weakness. When the premium runs to puts, the dip carries less conviction.
Link's call and the positioning data don't always match. When they do, the case for adding gets stronger.
Where the call can fail
Buying volatility works when earnings hold up. It fails when guidance resets lower across a group, because the dip then reflects falling estimates rather than a temporary swing in sentiment.
That makes the next few reports the test. Results from large-cap names will show whether estimates are stable enough to support buying weakness, or whether the selling has further to run.
Position size matters as much as timing. Link's history shows scaled entries, spending part of her cash on each leg lower instead of committing all at once.