Goldman Sachs becomes second Wall Street bank to raise its S&P 500 target this week
Goldman Sachs sees more gains ahead in the latter half of 2025. David Kostin, the firm’s chief U.S. equity strategist, raised his year-end S & P 500 price target to 6,600, representing a nearly 6% increase from the broad-market index’s latest closing level. Kostin also lifted his 3-month and 12-month price target on the S & P 500 to 6,400 and 6,900, respectively. Tuesday’s change comes after the benchmark hit fresh record highs last week, recovering from the lows seen in April after President Donald Trump unveiled new tariffs on imported goods. Kostin’s previous 2025 target for the S & P 500 was 6,100, which he set in mid-May amid changing trade policies. The strategist’s updated forecast puts Goldman among the three most bullish Wall Street firms, according to the CNBC Market Strategist Survey . Goldman’s target also sits higher than the Street’s median S & P 500 target of 6,300. “Earlier and deeper Fed easing and lower bond yields than we previously expected, continued fundamental strength of the largest stocks, and investors’ willingness to look through likely near-term earnings weakness support our revised S & P 500 forward P/E forecast of 22x (from 20.4x),” Kostin wrote in a Monday note to clients. .SPX 1Y mountain S & P 500 performance. Kostin added he expects near-term rotations to occur “below the surface of the index” following the S & P 500’s latest rally, which was led by just a few players. The median index constituent is still more than 10% below its 52-week high, leading to one of the most narrow market breadth readings in recent decades, he pointed out. “While narrow breadth often signals the risk of larger-than-average drawdowns, we believe a ‘catch up’ is more likely than a “catch down” and expect the market rally to broaden during the next few months,” Kostin wrote. “The market currently prices an optimistic outlook for economic growth and Fed easing, but equity investor positioning remains well below levels reached earlier this year.” Kostin is the second major strategist to raise his S & P 500 target this week. Bank of America lifted its 2025 S & P 500 target on Monday to 6,300 from 5,600. Strategists’ targets have been whipsawing this year in response to shifting tariff policies and geopolitical tensions.
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