Citigroup joins Goldman Sachs and Evercore ISI in the bullish camp, raising the year-end target for the S&P 500 index to 5600 points

Zhitong
2024.06.17 23:36
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Citigroup has raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 index to 5600 points, believing that the rise in stock prices of US tech giants will drive the index to new highs. This is the third company to raise its target after Goldman Sachs and Evercore ISI. It is expected that US stocks will rise by about 2% or more from the current level. The S&P 500 index has already accumulated a rise of about 15% so far this year, far exceeding the average year-end target forecast

According to the Zhitong Finance and Economics APP, Citigroup's US stock strategist Scott Chronert stated that the rise in the stock prices of US technology giants may continue to drive the S&P 500 Index to new highs. He has raised the year-end target for the S&P 500 Index from 5100 points to 5600 points, pointing out that the continued strength of the "Big Seven" stocks in the US market, as well as the market's expectations for earnings growth of other S&P 500 Index components, will also expand.

Following Goldman Sachs and Evercore ISI, Citigroup became the third company to raise its year-end target for the S&P 500 Index after the US stock market closed last Friday. These three institutions are currently the most bullish on US stocks, expecting US stocks to rise by about 2% or more from current levels, while the general forecast is a decline.

Scott Chronert stated, "The weight effect of large growth stocks has a huge impact on the price trend of the index." He added that traditional measures based on macroeconomic backgrounds seem "inappropriate."

The strong performance of the US economy and corporate profits, as well as the optimistic sentiment that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year, have once again prompted Wall Street professionals to update their forecasts to catch up with the rise in US stocks. The S&P 500 Index hit a new high on Monday, closing at 5473.23 points, up about 15% year-to-date, far above the average year-end target of 5,275.18 points tracked by Bloomberg strategists. This average year-end target has already been raised by institutions even after multiple upward revisions to the year-end target for the S&P 500 Index.

Last Friday, Goldman Sachs' chief stock strategist David Kostin predicted that the S&P 500 Index would close at 5600 points by the end of this year, higher than their forecast of 5200 points in February. This is the third time this year that the strategist has raised the year-end target for the S&P 500 Index. In addition, Evercore ISI's chief stock and quantitative strategist Julian Emanuel raised his year-end target for the S&P 500 Index to 6000 points, citing the artificial intelligence boom, making it the highest forecast among the main stock strategists tracked by Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, Scott Chronert and his team have also raised their expectations for the S&P 500 Index's earnings per share in 2024 from $245 to $250, and raised their expectations for the earnings per share of the S&P 500 Index in 2025 to $270. They also predict that the S&P 500 Index will rise to 5700 points and 5800 points in mid-2025 and the end of 2025, respectively. Strategists say these forecasts are based on assessments of three influences: NVIDIA (NVDA.US), other "Big Seven" companies, and other components of the S&P 500 Index

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