{"slug": "jpmorgan-hikes-s-p-500-target-as-ai-spending-starts-paying-off", "title": "JPMorgan hikes S&P 500 target as AI spending starts paying off", "summary": "JPMorgan strategists raised their year-end S&P 500 target to 8,000 points, citing strong corporate earnings and signs that AI spending is paying off. The team, led by Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, lifted the forecast from 7,800, implying a 3% upside from Friday's close of 7,757.64. JPMorgan also raised its full-year earnings-per-share estimate to $365, a 35% increase, and projects $420 for 2027.", "body_md": "# JPMorgan hikes S&P 500 target as AI spending starts paying off\n\nSee more of our coverage in your search results.\n\n[Add The New York Post on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=nypost.com)\n\n[JPMorgan strategists ](https://nypost.com/2026/06/25/business/jpmorgan-names-co-presidents-setting-up-new-horse-race-to-succeed-ceo-jamie-dimon/)raised their year-end target for the S&P 500 to 8,000 points on Monday, citing strong corporate earnings and clear signs that heavy spending on artificial intelligence is starting to pay off.\n\nThe move marks the second increase in two months for the team led by Dubravko Lakos-Bujas. In June, the strategists lifted the forecast to 7,800 from 7,600. The new target implies a roughly 3% upside from Friday’s close of 7,757.64.\n\nThe S&P 500 tracks 500 of the largest U.S. publicly traded companies and serves as a key benchmark for the broader stock market. It recently reclaimed record highs after companies reported robust results.\n\nStrategists pointed to second-quarter earnings as the main driver. Corporate profits jumped 32% in one of the strongest quarterly advances on record.\n\nNearly four in five companies that reported results beat earnings expectations, and about 73% topped revenue forecasts, according to the bank’s note.\n\nJPMorgan also raised its full-year earnings-per-share estimate for the index to $365, a 35% increase from the prior year. The bank projects $420 for 2027.\n\nThe strategists highlighted progress among the so-called AI hyperscalers, which are the large technology firms that build and operate vast cloud computing networks.\n\nAlphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. all showed stronger cloud growth and larger order backlogs.\n\n“As elevated backlogs convert into recognized revenue, cloud growth should remain well supported, helping validate rising AI capex,” the JPMorgan analysts wrote. “Across hyperscalers, demand indicators remain high and rising.”\n\nJPMorgan expects [artificial intelligence-related spending](https://nypost.com/2026/08/06/business/nostradamus-of-ai-leopold-aschenbrenner-makes-new-400m-bet-after-situational-awareness-funds-near-collapse/) to make up well over half of the $1.5 trillion in total capital expenditures planned by S&P 500 companies this year. That share is likely to grow further.\n\nThe bank said the latest results reduce concerns about returns on the massive investments these companies have made.\n\nMonetization of AI spending appears to be accelerating faster than the outlays themselves, which should support stronger future revenue growth.\n\nThe 8,000 target sits slightly above the average forecast of 7,845 from 20 strategists surveyed by Bloomberg.\n\nOther major banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, have also issued bullish outlooks for US equities this year.\n\nThe S&P 500 has climbed more than 13% so far in 2026. Stocks rose last week after a weaker-than-expected jobs report raised hopes that the Federal Reserve might delay any further interest-rate increases.\n\nJPMorgan’s latest call arrives as investors continue to focus on whether the enormous sums poured into artificial intelligence will generate lasting profits.\n\nThe strategists argue the early evidence from cloud demand and backlogs supports their more optimistic stance.\n\nThe bank’s revised outlook places it among the more constructive voices on Wall Street for the remainder of the year.\n\nCapex, or capital expenditures, refers to the money companies spend to buy, maintain or upgrade long-term assets such as servers, data centers and software.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/jpmorgan-hikes-s-p-500-target-as-ai-spending-starts-paying-off", "canonical_source": "https://nypost.com/2026/08/10/business/jpmorgan-hikes-sp-500-target-as-ai-spending-starts-paying-off/", "published_at": "2026-08-10 19:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-10 19:12:41.069514+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["JPMorgan", "Dubravko Lakos-Bujas", "Alphabet Inc.", "Amazon.com Inc.", "Microsoft Corp.", "Goldman Sachs Group Inc.", "Citigroup Inc.", "Deutsche Bank AG"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/jpmorgan-hikes-s-p-500-target-as-ai-spending-starts-paying-off", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/jpmorgan-hikes-s-p-500-target-as-ai-spending-starts-paying-off.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/jpmorgan-hikes-s-p-500-target-as-ai-spending-starts-paying-off.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/jpmorgan-hikes-s-p-500-target-as-ai-spending-starts-paying-off.jsonld"}}