“As the last few months have demonstrated, equity prices depend on not just the expected future stream of earnings but the rate at which those earnings are discounted to present value,” Kostin wrote in a note Friday. “Looking forward, a falling equity risk premium will outweigh a rise in bond yields, and combined with our above-consensus EPS forecast, will lift the S&P 500 Index to 3,600 by year-end.”
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is the latest firm to boost its year-end price target for the S&P 500, as a relentless rally off the March lows leaves strategist predictions in the dust.
David Kostin raised his forecast for the benchmark US gauge to 3,600 from 3,000, joining the likes of Yardeni Research founder Ed Yardeni and RBC Capital Markets’ Lori Calvasina who’ve upped their forecasts in recent weeks. The rally has caught many investors by surprise, with the S&P 500 now sitting at 3,372.85 – 51% off its March lows – and threatening to eclipse its February closing record. Kostin cited Goldman’s above-consensus U.S. growth expectations keyed off positive news on the vaccine front.
