QQQ
VOO
The bull got bolder
Ed Yardeni is basically saying the market’s moonshot may not be done yet. The Yardeni Research chief lifted his year-end S&P 500 target to 8,250 from 7,700, making him the most optimistic of the big-name forecasters tracked by the press.
That’s not a tiny tweak. It’s a pretty loud vote of confidence in the idea that corporate earnings are still playing the role of the engine under the hood. Yardeni now sees large-cap EPS hitting $330 this year, up from $310, and he pushed his 2027 EPS estimate to $375 from $350.
Why this matters to your portfolio
If you own broad market ETFs like VOO or QQQ, this is the kind of commentary that can feed the “don’t fight the tape” crowd. Yardeni is basically arguing that the economy has shrugged off a ridiculous number of stress tests already — pandemic, inflation, tariffs, labor drama, the whole soap opera — and that investors may still be underestimating how resilient earnings are.
A few key takeaways from the note:
- He now sees 2026 S&P 500 revenue per share at $2,200 and 2027 at $2,300.
- He still thinks the index can reach 10,000 by the end of 2029.
- He warned that the Iran war could have a long tail and told investors to favor energy stocks before the ceasefire cools off the oil trade.
The catch: meltups are fun until they aren’t
Yardeni’s warning is the financial version of “the music is still playing, but the floor is getting crowded.” A meltup can be great for performance, but it can also make valuations feel a little like a house party where nobody remembers who brought the snacks.
Big picture: Yardeni is betting that earnings keep outrunning the skeptics. If he’s right, broad indexes could keep grinding higher. If he’s wrong, the market may be paying premium prices for a very optimistic story.