A top stock strategist says buckle up for more big gains in 2026.
The year-end stretch has proven volatile, but Bankim Chadha, Deutsche Bank’s chief US stock strategist, says the market’s bull run is set to extend into a fourth year.
Chadha is optimistic that despite fears of the AI bubble bursting, the S&P 500 will continue its winning streak in 2026 on the back of more strong earnings growth. He predicts the S&P will rise to 8,000 by year-end 2026, a surge of 18% from current levels.
Chadha has long been bullish on the stock market and the US economy, even during times when fears about a potential pullback or recession are building. For the coming year, he said investors should expect earnings to boom, with growth broadening out from the highest-flying tech stocks and spilling into the rest of the market.
“The main thesis is really the broadening out that we began to see basically in the third quarter, continuing,” he said. “I think that for the equity markets to have a soft landing, you need a broadening out.”
Chadha said that stock multiples are extremely high relative to history, but added that based on the underlying drivers of valuations, multiples are likely to keep increasing. Yet, even if they don’t, Chadha thinks the benchmark S&P 500 can still rise based on how investors are positioning themselves.
“If you look at positioning today, we’re not very far from an all-time high, but market positioning is pretty close to neutral,” he added. “If you go to the top, that’s like 9% potential upside. Just from positioning, we’ve had the cross asset inflows boom on which equities have continued to benefit.”
He added that he’s not worried about valuations being too high, even as lofty stock prices have been a growing concern among market watchers. That’s because, from his perspective, valuations are cyclical as opposed to fixed, reflecting simply where the market is in the economic cycle.
“You’re talking about very robust, healthy demand, supply, and that implies multiples kind of staying here.”