June was a bifurcated month for the S&P 500 with several sectors posting solid gains while others experienced sharp declines.
The S&P 500 declined 1.06 per cent. Sector leaders include industrials, health care, financials and utilities with gains of 7.19 per cent, 6.46 per cent, 4.22 per cent and 2.44 per cent, respectively. Sector laggards included communication services, energy, consumer discretionary and technology with losses of. 7.86 per cent, 5.14 per cent, 4.78 per cent and 3.33 per cent, respectively.
The top 10 performers in the S&P 500 Index in June were:
- Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT-Q), up 61 per cent
- KLA Corp. (KLAC-Q), up 57 per cent
- Moderna Inc. (MRNA-Q), up 48 per cent
- Marvell Technology Inc. (MRVL-Q), up 45 per cent
- Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB-N), up 44 per cent
- Corning Inc. (GLW-N), up 41 per cent
- Bio-Techne Corp. (TECH-Q), up 37 per cent
- Lam Research Corp. (LRCX-Q), up 36 per cent
- Sandisk Corp. (SNDK-Q), up 34 per cent
- Humana Inc. (HUM-N), up 30 per cent
Stocks with material positive revisions to their average target prices over the past month include numerous technology stocks:
- Hewlett Packard (HPE-N), increased 126 per cent to US$68.60 from US$30.33
- Micron Technology Inc. (MU-Q), increased 116 per cent to US$1,563.83 from US$722.49
- Dell Technologies (DELL-N), increased 96 per cent to US$485.76 from US$247.33
- NetApp Inc. (NTAP-Q), increased 51 per cent to US$178.06 from US$117.61
- Jabil Inc. (JBL-N), increased 40 per cent to US$441.08 from US$364.56
Earnings growth expectations continue to rise for this year and next year. Year-over-year earnings growth is anticipated to come in at 26.6 per cent in 2026 and 17.6 per cent in 2027. Year-over-year earnings growth is forecast to expand 24.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, 27.6 per cent in the third quarter and 25.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2026.
According to the July 2 LSEG report, the forward four-quarter price-to-earnings multiple for the S&P 500 stood at 20.2 times, down from 21.6 times as of May 29.
In the first half of 2026, the S&P 500 Index rallied 9.55 per cent.
Now, here’s a look at analysts’ target prices, recommendations, forecast returns and yields for all securities in the S&P 500 grouped by sector and ranked according to their expected price returns (excluding dividend and distribution income). The posted target price for each security is an average of all available target prices from analysts. A target price typically reflects an expected share or unit price 12 months from now based on an analyst’s financial modelling, such as a discounted cash flow or sum-of-the-parts model. Data is as of June 30.
It’s important to note that high target prices, which imply stellar returns that seem unbelievable may be just that - unrealistic. At times, when a stock price falls analysts may maintain their bullish expectations, inflating the forecast return. In addition, an outlier (extreme target price) can skew the average target price, to the upside or downside, particularly when the number of analysts covering a stock is low. Don’t let a huge projected gain lure you into a position – it is critical to look at the company and industry fundamentals.