Bears Capitulate: Goldman Joins Bull Parade, Raises S&P Price Target To 4,500 From 4,000

First it was Bank of America; then Citigroup; now Goldman - which was one of the most bearish research teams for the past year, repeatedly cutting its S&P price target to a street low 3,600 in Sept 2022 just as the market bottomed from a high of 5,100 in November of 2021 - has capitulated and joined the bullish penguin parade.

In a note that is reminiscent to what BofA's Savita Subramanian put out just one day earlier, when she doubled down on her capitulation writing that "The Bear Market Is Officially Over... New Bull Market Has Legs", and which showed just how easy it is for a Wall Street pro to switch from goalseeking a bearish outcome with a bullish one, Goldman's chief equity strategist writes that he is raising Goldman's S&P 500 year-end price target to 4500 from 4000, "representing 5% upside from the current 4299 level."

Kostin's unchanged 2023 EPS forecast of $224 "assumes a soft landing and is above the top-down consensus of $206." The forecast is in the context of Goldman's economists assigning a 25% probability of recession in the next 12 months (down from 35% previously), compared with 65% for consensus.