The S & P 500 has enjoyed two consecutive years of 20% gains, but don’t expect that to happen again for a third year, according to Wells Fargo. “Three-peats” are a rare occurrence for the stock market, wrote Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute. In data going back to 1957, the year the S & P 500 was created, the benchmark has notched three consecutive years of greater than 20% advances just once in its history, during the boom times of the 1990s. In fact, the S & P 500 at that time managed to do it four years in a row. It surged more than 34% in 1995, 20% in 1996, 31% in 1997, 26% in 1998, then 19.5% in 1999, before the dot-com crash of 2000. “Do we expect an S & P 500 Index three-peat in 2025?” Wren wrote. “In short, no.” .SPX 5Y mountain S & P 500, over five years Of course, that isn’t to say there isn’t reason to be optimistic, Wren continued. The strategist, who expects that strong economic growth will underpin the continued rise in the market, said the S & P 500 could end the year at 6,600. That is a roughly 12% rise from the end of December. He is optimistic on growth and value stocks, and steering clear of the defensive sectors. “Three-peats do not happen often,” Wren wrote. “But that doesn’t mean investors shouldn’t expect this year to be a good one for properly positioned portfolios,” Wren added.
Don’t expect a 20% S&P 500 three-peat this year, Wells Fargo says