In July, the S&P 500 was relatively unchanged with the index declining 0.13 per cent.
Sector leaders included energy, financials, real estate and health care with gains of 12.54 per cent, 6.04 per cent, 2.46 per cent and 2.24 per cent, respectively.
There were four sectors that realized negative price returns in July: technology, industrials, utilities and materials with losses of 3.45 per cent, 3.06 per cent, 2.28 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively.
The top 10 performers in the S&P 500 Index in July were:
- Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH-Q), up 43 per cent
- Accenture PLC (ACN-N), up 33 per cent
- Paypal Holdings Inc. (PYPL-Q), up 32 per cent
- Workday Inc. (WDAY-Q), up 31 per cent
- Willis Towers Watson PLC (WTW-Q), up 29 per cent
- Cboe Global Markets Inc. (CBOE-A), up 28 per cent
- Phillips 66 (PSX-N), up 25 per cent
- Microsoft Corp. (MSFT-Q), up 25 per cent
- HP Inc. (HPQ-N), up 24 per cent
- Dexcom Inc. (DXCM-Q), up 24 per cent
Stocks with material positive revisions to their average target prices over the past month include:
- Fortinet Inc. (FTNT-Q), increased 40 per cent to $162.69 from $116.03
- Baxter International Inc. (BAX-N), increased 39 per cent to $28.10 from $20.18
- Humana Inc. (HUM-N), increased 34 per cent to $408.88 from $305.48
- International Paper Company (IP-N), increased 24 per cent to $48 from $38.75
- Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (STX-Q), increased 23 per cent to $1112.70 from $906.73.
Earnings growth expectations are rising for 2026 and moderating for 2027. Currently, year-over-year earnings growth is anticipated to come in at 33.3 per cent in 2026 and 13.6 per cent in 2027. Last month, earnings growth was forecast to rise 26.6 per cent in 2026 and 17.6 per cent in 2027. The exceptionally strong earnings growth rate forecast for the second quarter of 2026 is driving this year’s growth rate higher. For the second quarter of 2026, year-over-year earnings growth is expected to be 51.1 per cent.
Earnings growth is expected to remain solid in the second half of this year. Year-over-year earnings growth is forecast to expand 28.6 per cent in the third quarter and 26.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The S&P 500 Index is trading at an all-time high, nearing the 7,800 level and roughly 3 per cent away from 8,000.
According to the August 7 LSEG I/B/E/S report, the forward four-quarter price-to-earnings multiple for the S&P 500 stood at 20.5 times, up from 20.2 times as of July 2.
In the first seven months of 2026, the S&P 500 Index rallied 9.4 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 August 3.
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.
To download the report as an Excel file, click on the button at the bottom of the table.