The president of Yardeni Research believes the S&P 500 can continue to rise to new all-time highs on its way to a record 8,000 by year’s end.
In a new CNBC interview, veteran strategist Ed Yardeni says say he raises his final target for the stock market index to 8,250.
According to Yardeni, it is the fundamental factors driving the market’s rise rather than speculation by investors.
“I think that’s actually the obvious reason, and that’s earnings. I recently talked about FOMO versus FEMO. FEMO’s fantastic earnings momentum. And that’s really what’s driving the market, not FOMO, not the fear of missing out.”
Looking at the stock market’s performance in recent years, Yardeni says the depth and liquidity of U.S. capital markets are the driving force behind technological progress and sustainable economic growth.
“It was around 2024 that everyone was talking about American exceptionalism. And then the whole thesis disappeared in 2025. But we have great capital markets. We have a tremendous amount of capital available for innovation. That’s the driving force behind the technological revolution. The technological revolution drives productivity, and productivity is a fairy tale. It makes everything better in the economy: better growth, lower inflation, real wages are going up and profits are great.”
Yardeni also pushes back on the claim that the market looks unsettled as the S&P 500 is poised to hit new highs. He also emphasizes that the bull market will continue as long as the earnings growth story is alive.
“We’ve had a few crashes. I mean, we had a crash early 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 is a tremendous amount of wealth in the US, and it wants to be invested in the US on a global basis. I think profit is the driving force.”