U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase has raised its year-end price target for the S&P 500 index from 7,600 to 7,800, citing stronger corporate earnings growth, Bloomberg reported on June 24 (local time).

This represents an increase of approximately 6% from the closing price of 7,365.46 on the previous day.

The global market strategy team at JPMorgan Chase, led by Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, cited the upward revision of earnings growth forecasts for S&P 500 companies as the reason for the target adjustment.

In an investor note, Lakos-Bujas explained that the consensus for corporate earnings forecasts for 2026 and 2027 has been revised upward by about 10% each since the beginning of the year, stating, "This type of positive revision is unprecedented and typically only occurs after economic shocks or recessions."

He added, "In hindsight, we should have been more positive on the S&P 500 earnings growth outlook."

Lakos-Bujas noted that the "positive shock" of the earnings forecast upgrades occurred during the first-quarter earnings season.

He added that during that period, companies increased their capital expenditure forecasts and Anthropic demonstrated the commercial viability of its artificial intelligence (AI) services, which served as the backdrop for the positive shock.

However, Lakos-Bujas cautioned, "Investors should keep in mind that the upward path of the index will not be a straight line," pointing out that "several hurdles currently facing the market need to be cleared."

He also assessed that investor expectations have risen ahead of the second-quarter earnings season, making it more difficult for companies to deliver significant "earnings surprises" in terms of performance or capital expenditure.