2026년 2월 20일 · Unknown · financial · 출처 Yahoo Finance
Investing.com -- Citi is maintaining its stance that investors should balance exposure between growth and cyclical equities, with analyst Drew Pettit emphasising in a note on Thursday that the firm’s focus “remains on barbelling risk between Growth and Cyclicals” in what it sees as a more volatile stage of the U.S. bull market.
Pettit said Citi continues to prefer large-cap growth on three fronts. According to the analyst, it can act as “defensive from perceived short-term macro weakness,” as earnings revisions continue higher, and large-cap growth stocks remain “good sources of liquidity to hold in broader portfolios.”
On the cyclical side, Citi argues investors should move down the market-cap spectrum. Pettit said small-cap value stands out because it is expected to post the strongest earnings growth inflection and because this improvement “does not appear fully reflected in valuations.”
Citi flagged the S&P 600 Value index as its cyclical tilt.
Citi also highlighted confidence in U.S. earnings fundamentals, projecting $320 in 2026 S&P 500 earnings, which it said is near the Street high. Pettit noted the earnings support is broadening, pointing to a “drastic” expected decline in the number of S&P 500 companies with negative earnings growth in 2026.
The bank noted that the inflection in small- and mid-cap earnings that appeared during third-quarter results ended their “multi-year earnings growth recession,” giving further support to its barbell positioning.
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