Ed Yardeni Abruptly Lifts S&P 500 Year-End Target, Driven by Major Earnings Momentum – Here’s His Outlook

The president of Yardeni Research believes that the S&P 500 can keep climbing to new all-time highs en route to shattering 8,000 by the end of the year.

In a new CNBC interview, veteran strategist Ed Yardeni says he is raising his year-end target for the stock market index to 8,250.

According to Yardeni, fundamentals are driving the market’s ascent rather than investor speculation.

“I think it’s actually the obvious reason, and that is earnings. I’ve been recently talking about FOMO versus FEMO. FEMO’s fabulous earnings momentum. And that’s really what’s been driving the market, not FOMO, not fear of missing out.”

Looking at the stock market’s performance in the last few years, Yardeni says the depth and liquidity of the US capital markets are powering technological advancements and sustained economic growth.

“It was about 2024 that everybody was talking about American exceptionalism. And then the whole thesis kind of fizzled out in 2025. But we have amazing capital markets. We have a tremendous amount of capital available for innovation. That’s driving the technology revolution. The technology revolution is driving productivity, and productivity is fairy dust. It makes everything better in the economy: better growth, lower inflation, real wages go up, and profits are great.”

Yardeni also pushes back on claims that the market looks frothy as the S&P 500 looks poised to record fresh highs. He also emphasizes that the bull market will continue as long as the earnings growth story is alive.

“We’ve already had a few crashes. I mean, we had a crash at the beginning of last year. It turned out to be a great buying opportunity. We had a crash in March. It turned out to be a great buying opportunity…

So I think there’s a tremendous amount of wealth in the US and, on a global basis, that wants to invest in the US. I think earnings are what’s driving it all.”