NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 14:40 ET
- Strategists see a tougher setup for 2026 after three straight years of double-digit gains.
- Investors are watching whether profit growth broadens beyond megacap tech and whether AI spending pays off.
- Rate expectations and policy uncertainty are expected to drive volatility early in the year.
After three straight years of double-digit gains, U.S. stocks enter 2026 with strategists saying profit growth and the path for interest rates will decide whether the rally can extend. For another year of outsized returns, markets need “everything firing on all cylinders,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA, who put his end-2026 target for the S&P 500 at 7,400, about 8% above current levels. Tajinder Dhillon, head of earnings research at LSEG, said S&P 500 earnings are projected to rise more than 15% in 2026 after about 13% in 2025, while some banks such as Deutsche Bank have flagged double-digit upside even as they warn that heavy AI spending and Fed leadership uncertainty could test investor confidence. 1
The S&P 500 finished 2025 at 6,845.50, up 16.39% for the year, even after a late-year pullback in holiday-thin trading. Bellwether chipmaker Nvidia became the first publicly traded company to reach a $5 trillion market value, highlighting how much of the bull run has leaned on artificial-intelligence optimism. 2
That matters now because prices already reflect high expectations. Valuations — often discussed using the price-to-earnings ratio, a measure of how much investors pay for a dollar of expected profit — leave less room for disappointment if growth slows or margins get squeezed.
The U.S. benchmark also ended the year slightly ahead of Europe’s STOXX 600 after both recovered from an April selloff tied to trade disputes, a reminder that money can rotate quickly when policy headlines hit. 3
A big question for 2026 is whether gains broaden beyond a handful of megacaps. The “Magnificent Seven” — a nickname for the biggest U.S. tech and tech-adjacent companies that have dominated index performance — remain heavily weighted in the benchmark.
Strategists say earnings will have to do more of the heavy lifting if valuations stay stretched. That puts the spotlight on companies’ 2026 guidance and on whether growth shows up across industries, not just in the AI supply chain.
AI spending is another swing factor. Investors are tracking capital expenditures, or capex — long-term investment in items such as data centers, servers and chips — for signs that customers are still willing to fund the buildout and that returns are improving.
Interest rates sit at the center of the outlook. A “dovish” Federal Reserve — one more inclined to cut rates than raise them — would ease financing costs and typically supports risk assets, but markets remain sensitive to any sign that rate cuts are being driven by a weakening economy.
Even with equity markets shut for New Year’s Day, funding markets offered a reminder of how closely traders watch liquidity. The Federal Reserve’s bill purchases and record use of its Standing Repo Facility — a backstop that provides short-term cash against high-quality collateral — helped keep year-end borrowing pressures from escalating, market participants said. 4
Policy risk remains a constant in the background, from trade tensions to the 2026 U.S. midterm election cycle. Strategists have also flagged the coming shift in Fed leadership as a potential catalyst for both optimism over easier policy and concern about central bank independence.
Overseas, investors are tracking whether policy support can steady growth. China’s President Xi Jinping said Beijing would roll out more proactive macro policies in 2026, after China’s Shanghai Composite ended 2025 up 18%. 5
For investors, the checklist for 2026 is straightforward but unforgiving: deliver the earnings growth, keep financial conditions supportive, and show that AI investment can translate into durable profits. If any leg wobbles, strategists say the market may find it harder to repeat the recent run of blockbuster years.
