When one of Wall Street's optimists taps the brakes, people notice. Wells Fargo chief equity strategist Ohsung Kwon lowered his S&P 500 year-end call to 7,700 from 7,950, which works out to just over a 1% move above Monday's close. A Bloomberg chart shows Kwon projecting a 1.1% climb for the index by the end of 2026. He also dialed back his tech view to equal-weight and upgraded healthcare to overweight, reshuffling sector bets as election-season risks build for artificial intelligence and data center buildouts.
Kwon points to politics colliding with AI. "Over the last 3 months, active data center moratoriums rose 175% nationally, and we expect the momentum to continue, especially amid frontier labs voicing concerns around security," he wrote. He argues those headwinds could intensify if Democrats, who typically back AI regulation, sweep the upcoming midterms.
At the same time, mounting friction between the Trump administration and prominent AI executives is stoking investor unease over whether the current wave of infrastructure outlays will pay off. Developers such as Anthropic PBC and OpenAI have urged tapping the brakes on the most advanced AI to avoid catastrophic outcomes, while the US president is pressing to keep the country in front of the innovation race.
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Kwon said he grew more guarded on US equities earlier this month, cautioning that the AI-related capex boom may be approaching its later innings in 2027. Within tech, he favors software and expects chip stocks could revisit their July lows. On the flip side, he sees a potential policy lift for healthcare if Democrats notch wins that pave the way to restore enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, a positive for hospitals and exchange-focused insurers. His call comes as others have been raising targets: Bank of America and Tallbacken Capital Advisors bumped their year-end S&P 500 forecasts on Monday, and JPMorgan and market veteran Ed Yardeni boosted theirs in August.
Kwon calls this profit upswing exceptional: "It's been one of the strongest EPS cycles in history." He adds, "Annualized 10-yr EPS growth is expected to reach 14% by 2027, surpassed only by the 1950s post-WWII bull market." He does not see big risks next year, but flags that 2028 earnings could be vulnerable if AI investment slows. He also estimates equity allocations are running around 72% - the most since 1969 - while his model suggests they should sit closer to 60%. By his math, that overshoot exceeds the gap seen during the tech bubble.
This is a subtle rotation story: nudging down broad market expectations, taking some heat off mega-cap tech, and giving healthcare a bit more room based on potential policy shifts. Layer on a stretched allocation backdrop and a profit cycle that may cool as AI capex fades into 2028, and it is a reminder to sanity-check where your money is concentrated and how much of your returns are leaning on one theme.
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