Wall Street is bullish on stocks for the second half of the year. Here you will find the exact forecasts of each company.

• The S&P 500’s record rally this year has led to a wave of target price hikes on Wall Street.

• The most bullish price target for the S&P 500 is 6,000 from Evercore ISI, which represents a gain of about 7%.

• Key bullish drivers include the benefits of AI, consumer resilience and the Fed’s upcoming rate cuts.

The S&P500 has soared this year, with the index rising about 15% to record highs in the first half.

As the second half of 2024 approaches, Wall Street strategists are updating their year-end price targets for the S&P 500, and almost all of them are bullish as they raise their forecasts.

While the average year-end price target for the S&P 500 is 5,429, the average year-end price target is 5,600, according to Bloomberg data. The S&P 500 traded around 5,630 points on Friday.

These are the updated stock market predictions from some of the most bullish strategists on Wall Street.

Evercore ISI: S&P 500 price target of 6,000

Evercore ISI strategist Julian Emanuel went from bearish to the biggest bull on Wall Street when last month he raised his year-end price target for the S&P 500 from 4,750 to 6,000.

Emanuel’s price target represents a potential upside of 7% for the S&P 500 between now and the end of the year, and would represent a full-year gain of 26%.

“The AI ​​revolution is still in its infancy” and that should lead to continued strength in earnings growth, Emanuel said. Emanuel predicts S&P 500 earnings per share growth of 8% and 5% in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

“The pandemic has changed everything. Record incentives, high household cash balances and low debt levels are supporting consumers. Then came AI. Today, the productivity potential of generational AI is changing in every job and sector. The backdrop of slowing inflation, a Fed intention to cut rates and steady growth have supported Goldilocks,” Emanuel said.

And while stock market valuation ratios may be high, Emanuel says they are justified.

“High multiples are supported by companies’ proven track record of controlling costs and maintaining/growing margins,” Emanuel explains.

Oppenheimer: S&P 500 price target of 5,900

Oppenheimer strategist John Stoltzfus raised its year-end price target from 5,500 to 5,900 this month, driven by continued resilience among the U.S. consumer.

“As before, it’s a matter of the fundamentals, where they are now,” John Stoltzfus, Oppenheimer’s chief investment strategist, told CNBC. “It includes consumer resilience, even though the economy is slowing, there is quite a bit of resilience – business resilience, job growth, wage growth.”

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Importantly, the potential gains are not driven by short-term investors, but rather by long-term investors who need to park their money somewhere to fund their retirement, and stocks are the likely winners.

“It’s largely driven by medium to longer term investors, some of which are just the citizenry recognizing that there are real threats to the stability of Social Security, and people realizing they have a role to play in their own retirement,” said Stoltzfus.

Yardeni Research: S&P 500 price target of 5,800

Yardeni Research raised its year-end price target for the S&P 500 to 5,800 from 5,400 this week.

Strategist Eric Wallerstein said the combination of $6 trillion in cash and the Federal Reserve’s upcoming rate cuts should boost stock prices.

“We are still targeting an SPX 8000 by the end of this decade. Our Roaring 2020 scenario is just discounting faster than we expected. We don’t think rate cuts are necessary, but with second-quarter gross domestic product at 2% and the money market worth $6.15 trillion, rate cuts will further fuel a further meltdown,” Wallerstein said Thursday.

Wallerstein added that unlike the 2000 dot-com bubble, corporate profits are currently soaring, which should lead to sustainable share price gains.

Additionally, Wallerstein said the stock market’s rally should extend to companies other than mega-cap tech stocks as the benefits of AI begin to trickle down to other companies outside the tech sector.

Ned Davis Research: S&P 500 price target of 5,725

A strong stock market rally this year led Ned Davis Research to raise its year-end price target for the S&P 500 to 5,725 from 4,900 last month.

The research firm said that as long as earnings growth continues to accelerate, even slightly, it should fuel a continued rise in stock prices.

“The modest increase in earnings continues, the economy and inflation appear to be moderating enough for the Federal Reserve to cut rates, and the market tends to enjoy a year-end rally during the presidential election,” NDR said strategist Ed Clissold.

Goldman Sachs: S&P 500 price target of 5,600

Goldman Sachs strategist David Kostin raised his price target for the S&P 500 to 5,600 from 5,200 last month. The bank had originally expected the index to end the year at 5,100.

While Kostin raised his price target, he warned that a heavy concentration in mega-cap tech companies and a likely slowdown in earnings growth in the second half of the year could lead to flat returns over the next six months.

“Our 2024 and 2025 earnings estimates remain unchanged, but stellar earnings growth from five mega-cap tech stocks has offset the typical pattern of negative revisions to consensus EPS estimates,” Kostin said.

UBS: S&P 500 price target of 5,600

UBS has raised its price target for the S&P 500 to 5,600 from 5,400 in May, after the bank raised its price target in February.

This bullish mood was driven by the lack of signs of a recession in the economy and solid GDP growth forecasts.

“Since then, consensus GDP forecasts for 2024 have increased from 1.6% to 2.4%,” analysts led by Jonathan Golub wrote. “At the same time, recession and tail risks have declined across a number of key measures, including economist surveys and the Chicago Fed’s Financial Condition Index.”

UBS also raised its earnings per share forecast to $245 from $240 this year and raised 2025 estimates from $255 to $260.

According to data from Bloomberg, the average earnings per share of the S&P 500 for 2024 is $242.

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