The same equity analysts who lowered second-quarter profit growth predictions to almost nothing in 2013 are raising price forecasts, convinced the economy is growing fast enough to lure more investors and boost valuations.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index earnings rose 1.8 percent last quarter, down from a projection of 8.7 percent six months ago, according to more than 11,000 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. At the same time, share-price targets for companies from GameStop Corp. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are rising at the fastest rate in two years. The U.S. equity gauge will increase 8.9 percent to a record 1,777.91 should the forecasts prove accurate.
