Goldman Lifts S&P 500 Target to 8,000

Yahoo! Finance Canada reported Wednesday that Goldman Sachs has raised its S&P 500 target for year-end 2026 to 8,000. The bank previously held a forecast of 7,600 for the index. The revised S&P 500 target sits roughly 6.4% above the index’s most recent closing level of 7,519.

AI Infrastructure Drives the Upgraded Call

Goldman’s strategists pointed to sustained corporate earnings momentum as the primary driver. The bank said earnings growth has accounted for the entirety of the S&P 500’s return so far in 2026. It expects that dynamic to persist through the remainder of the year.

Goldman analysts said AI infrastructure beneficiaries are on course to generate approximately half of the index’s total earnings growth in 2026. They noted that while semiconductor stocks central to that buildout have recently run ahead of their forward earnings estimates, the broader investment cycle remains intact.

The bank also flagged risks. Softening consumer spending and elevated operating costs are genuine headwinds. Goldman argued that continued heavy AI capital spending would more than offset those pressures.

Earnings Estimates Revised Sharply Higher

Alongside the index target, Goldman lifted its earnings-per-share forecasts substantially. The firm now expects S&P 500 EPS of $340 in 2026, representing 24% growth on a year-over-year basis. For 2027, the bank projects EPS of $385, implying a further 13% expansion.

Those revisions suggest Goldman sees the current earnings cycle as durable rather than a one-year anomaly. The scale of the 2026 upgrade in particular reflects confidence that AI monetisation is arriving faster than consensus had assumed.

Wall Street’s Broader Bullish Turn

Goldman’s revision arrives amid a widening consensus shift on Wall Street. Peers including Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank have already staked out year-end targets implying roughly 17% full-year returns for the S&P 500. UBS Global Wealth Management made a similar move last week. That firm cited AI-driven earnings resilience as a buffer against inflationary pressure and supply disruptions tied to the Iran conflict.

The clustering of bullish revisions from major brokerages marks a meaningful change in tone from earlier in 2026, when tariff uncertainty and macro volatility kept strategists cautious about lifting price targets.

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