Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Wall Street's Bulls, Few Bears

Wall Street strategists remain broadly optimistic on U.S. stocks for the rest of 2026, though forecasts for the S&P 500 ( SPY ) ( IVV ) ( VOO ) vary by more than 1,200 points. According to a compilation from Yardeni Research, Yardeni itself is the biggest bull among the firms tracked, with a year-end target of 8,250 for the S&P 500. That implies gains of about 10% from the index's recent level near 7,483. (H/T Mike Zaccardi .) Oppenheimer and Citigroup are the next most optimistic, both forecasting the benchmark will finish the year at 8,100, followed by 22V Research at 8,060. Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley each have year-end targets of 8,000. The average forecast across the firms surveyed stands at 7,716, implying a gain of roughly 3% from current levels. On the cautious end of Wall Street, Stifel Nicolaus holds the lowest target at 7,000, suggesting a decline of about 6% by year-end. Bank of America is the next most conservative at 7,100, while Société Générale and Wells Fargo both project the S&P 500 will end the year at 7,300. Overall, the distribution of forecasts suggests strategists continue to expect gains for the broa...