Oppenheimer Lifts S&P 500 Full-Year Earnings Growth Outlook

11:43 AM EDT, 10/19/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Oppenheimer Asset Management upgraded the S&P 500 full-year earnings outlook as the third-quarter reporting season got off to a solid start, Oppenheimer Asset Management said in a report on Monday. The brokerage raised its 2026 earnings-per-share estimate for the S&P 500 to $365 from $305. That reflects nearly 36% growth year on year. Oppenheimer continues to expect the index to close 2026 out at 8,100. The S&P 500 was trading at 7,721.76 intraday Monday, up 0.8% from Friday's close. "Our expectations are that another better-than expected quarter is in the offing," Oppenheimer Asset Management Chief Investment Strategist John Stoltzfus said. "Given the economic and corporate fundamentals experienced over the course of recent quarters along with watershed innovation that has seen reports of increased adoption of (artificial intelligence) by businesses and consumers, stocks may well have further upside ahead before year-end." Some 45 of the large-cap index' constituents have so far reported financial results in the current cycle, with earnings and sales up about 47% and 14% year over year, respectively, Stoltzfus said. Ahead of the reporting season, FactSet put expected annual earnings growth at 29.6%, according to Oppenheimer. "We expect that companies reporting disappointing results will likely continue to be treated particularly harshly by traders and other short-term players just as we've seen in recent quarters," Stoltzfus said. The technology sector has led the earnings growth chart so far, with reports from five companies showing a 301% surge in profits year over year, followed by financials' 12% jump, the Oppenheimer note showed. Tech was also ahead of all other sectors in terms of revenue, so far delivering growth of about 89%. Some 76 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to release quarterly financials this week, according the brokerage. Those include Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA), Procter & Gamble (PG), Philip Morris International (PM), Netflix (NFLX) and IBM (IBM). Last week, the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 declined 4.5% and nearly 2%, respectively. Government data showed producer prices jumped at the fastest pace in more than four years in September amid a surge in energy costs, while consumer inflation accelerated. "Last week's market performance suggests that once again bears, skeptics and nervous investors took opportunities to use the aforementioned inflation numbers and oil prices as catalysts to take some profits from the latest bull run in stocks that took the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite to their latest respective record highs on Oct. 6 -- less than two weeks ago," Stoltzfus added. Price: 704.11, Change: -5.22, Percent Change: -0.74