Where Will Berkshire Hathaway Be in 5 Years?
(Bloomberg) -- Wall Street strategists have a message for investors worrying about signs of excessive optimism emerging as US stocks extend their record run: Any near-term pullback will likely create a buying opportunity.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Budapest’s Most Historic Site Gets a Controversial Rebuild
San Francisco in Talks With Vanderbilt for Downtown Campus
Can This Bridge Ease the Troubled US-Canadian Relationship?
Trump Administration Sues NYC Over Sanctuary City Policy
Strategists from HSBC Holdings Plc, Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG are maintaining their long-term bullish views even as concerns build that valuations have become stretched at the moment. They see strong corporate earnings and economic data, growing clarity around tariffs and the tailwind of artificial intelligence propelling stocks higher into next year.
The long-term bullish outlook is notable as investors confront a string of market-moving events in the days ahead. The Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision, four of the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks scheduled to report earnings and a bevy of economic data are on the docket. The combination is poised to shape markets for weeks to come.
“I don’t want to miss the forest for the trees and be too focused on what could go wrong when we remain in the midst of an uptrend,” Aaron Nordvik, head of macro equity strategy at UBS, wrote in a note to clients on Friday.
Nordvik describes his view as tactically cautious, but structurally bullish, citing a strong secular AI trend and deregulation.
For now, he said, “caution is warranted,” and he wouldn’t be adding to long equity positions.
Worries about a bubbly market are building, with the S&P 500 Index up 28% since hitting a low on April 8. The gauge has set six-straight closing highs through Monday and if it notches a seventh on Tuesday, it will mark the longest streak of records since 2021. That’s left the US equity benchmark trading at roughly 22 times forward 12-month earnings, about where it was in February just as the gauge was hitting its short-term peak.
The fleeting revival in meme stocks last week that saw shares of speculative names like Opendoor Technologies Inc. and Kohl’s Corp. surge also added to fears of market froth. And the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, is holding firm near its lows since February around 15 — a possible contrarian sign that traders have become too complacent.
Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson has also warned of near-term pullback risk while expressing long-term optimism. The bank’s chief US equity strategist says the market is prone to a correction of 5% to 10% this quarter as tariffs impact corporate balance sheets.
Wilson sees any decline, however, as short-lived, and said he’d be an eager buyer in such an event. He expects the S&P 500 to climb to as high as 7,200 by next year, reflecting a roughly 13% gain from Monday’s closing level.
Meanwhile, HSBC’s Max Kettner said he doesn’t think this week’s earnings reports or economic data will be weak enough to trigger a correction. That’s even though the chief multi-asset strategist sees shorter-term sentiment and positioning flashing sell signals, particularly daily and technical ones.
“We’d argue that our shorter-term sell signal needs to be stronger to really indicate a pronounced risk of a setback,” Kettner said.
--With assistance from Matt Turner.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash
It’s Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan
Cage-Free Eggs Are Booming in the US, Despite Cost and Trump’s Efforts
Everyone Loves to Hate Wind Power. Scotland Found a Way to Make It Pay Off
Elon Musk’s Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.