Oppenheimer sets Street-high 8,100 S&P 500 target for 2026

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Dec 8 (Reuters) – Oppenheimer Asset Management on Monday set a year-end 2026 target of 8,100 for the S&P 500 index, the most bullish forecast among major Wall Street brokerages, citing expectations of strong corporate earnings and continued resilience in the U.S. economy.

The target implies an 18% upside to the S&P 500’s last close of 6,870.40 points and assumes earnings per share will reach $305.

That compares with Deutsche Bank’s 8,000 forecast for the index and a roughly 12% rise in the U.S. stocks between now and the end of next year, according to a Reuters poll of equity strategists in November.

“Economic data released thus far this year and in the current quarter continue to suggest to us the sustainability of economic growth that has proven resilient if not robust in a highly transitional period of time in market history,” Oppenheimer strategists led by John Stoltzfus said in a note.

The index has gained about 16.8% this year, spurred broadly by investor optimism around AI, robust corporate profits and expectations of falling interest rates, despite fears of a market bubble and high technology valuations.

Mega-cap tech names such as Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabet remain the main engines of the rally, underpinned by unprecedented capital spending on AI.

Oppenheimer said it remains bullish on U.S. equities, with a tilt toward cyclical stocks rather than defensive sectors.

The brokerage also expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to deliver a 25-basis-point interest rate cut this week, followed by one or two additional reductions next year if inflation remains contained.

(Reporting by Joel Jose in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)