The bank's chief U.S. equity and global strategist said in a note Wednesday evening that the S & P 500 could tumble all the way down to 3,000 if the U.S. economy falls into a recession in the near future. That's 23.5% below the index's Wednesday close of 3,923.68.
"Inflation is proving sticky and the Fed's forward guidance is for a rate hiking cycle that has historically ended in recession more often than not , with the Fed acknowledging and accepting this risk," Chadha said. Chadha's base case is not for an imminent recession, but the strategist did trim his year-end S & P 500 target to 4,750 from 5,250. The new target implies upside of 21% from Wednesday's close.