Strategists at JPMorgan on Friday lifted their view of earnings per share but kept their S&P 500 price target of 4,400. After a strong first quarter driven by robust demand and margin recovery, JPMorgan lifted its 2021 earnings per share view for S&P 500 companies to $200, its 2022 EPS view to $225, and introduced a 2023 EPS view of $245, all of which are above consensus estimates. “This implies a P/E of 19.5x on 2022 EPS and 18x on 2023 EPS, which we view as reasonable given lower rates and stronger growth environment relative to pre-COVID,” said strategists led by Dubravko Lakos-Bujas. The largest risk to its view is a sooner-than-expected Fed policy normalization and the corporate tax and infrastructure spending plan, which would be a headwind of about $9 to S&P 500 EPS if the current proposal passes. The S&P 500 ended Thursday at 4,159.22, up 11% this year.
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