LI - First Half Wrap: The AI Boom Robust Earnings Auto Sales On Tap
2024-06-21 04:52:00 ET
Summary
- As the first half wraps up, both US and foreign stocks are solidly positive amid AI euphoria.
- In the stock market, despite many calls for a broadening out of the rally, the mega-cap AI theme reasserted its dominance following small caps’ surge over the back half of Q4 2023.
- More than $250 of S&P 500 EPS is now the forecast over the next 12 months, with about $244 of current-year per-share operating profits and $277 of out-year EPS, according to FactSet.
And just like that, the end of next week marks the finish of the first half. What a wild ride it has been on the macro front. 2023 ended with a string of better-than-expected inflation reports, much to the delight of Chair Powell and the Federal Reserve. The tables turned, however, when the calendar flipped to 2024....
First Half Wrap: The AI Boom, Robust Earnings, Auto Sales On Tap