Just days ahead of potentially pivotal results from Nvidia Corp., Goldman Sachs has lifted its year-end S&P 500 target to 5,200, but with much of that hinging on Big Tech’s ability to keep delivering strong profits.
It marks the second time Goldman has lifted its S&P 500 target, after a bump to 5,100 from 4,700 in late December. Earlier this year, RBC Capital boosted its S&P 500 forecast to 5,150 from 5,000 and UBS raised its own target to 5,150 from 4,850. But the bank’s rosier outlook hinges on the ability of Big Tech to keep performing. Kostin and his team noted how the fourth quarter had “highlighted the ongoing fundamental strength” of the Magnificent 7 stocks — Meta Platforms META, -2.21%, Microsoft MSFT, -0.61%, Apple AAPL, -0.84%, Alphabet GOOGL, -1.58%, Tesla TSLA, -0.25%, Neflix NFLX, -1.60% and Nvidia NVDA, -0.06%.
As Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid told clients on Monday, “it’s a reflection of the world we live in that the most important event of the week may be Nvidia’s earnings on Wednesday. It is now the 4th largest company in the world and the best performer in the S&P 500 so far this year , so this will be very important for sentiment.”