The Zhitong Finance App learned that Zhang Shiqi, head of the Wealth Strategy and Analysis Department of the Bank of China Hong Kong's Personal Digital Financial Products Division, published an article stating that due to economic growth and the popularization of artificial intelligence, the profit growth forecast for US stocks in 2024 has increased as a result. According to the latest data, the annual profit growth forecast for S&P 500 companies in 2024 has risen from February to 9.4% now. The forecast for 2025 is an increase of 14.7%, which is significantly better than the 0.39% increase in 2023. The Federal Reserve's repeated delays in starting interest rate cuts are also reflecting a strong economy, which is expected to have a positive impact on the profits of US companies. Investors can pay more attention to whether recent US companies' performance announcements are in line with market expectations.

We are currently in the first quarter earnings announcement period for US companies. Although not many companies have announced profits, the average profit growth of S&P 500 companies in the first quarter has reached 8.66%. According to consolidated media forecasts, as of April 19, the market estimates that the overall profit of the S&P 500 index for the first quarter increased by nearly 2% year-on-year, which is better than the -2% performance in the same period last year. Among the 11 industry sectors, the sectors with the biggest increase in profit estimates are Communications Services, Information Technology, and Utilities. All three have estimated profit growth of more than 19%.

Zhang Shiqi said that artificial intelligence is an indispensable driving factor. Thanks to the development of the artificial intelligence business, corporate profits in the fourth quarter of last year were supported, and it also drove US stocks to record impressive performance. It is believed that the theme of artificial intelligence will still lead related sectors to profit growth in the first quarter of this year, and will cover a wider range of sectors. From earlier major industries such as chip manufacturing and artificial intelligence software programming, it has extended to surrounding industries related to artificial intelligence applications. For example, recently, communication service companies have joined generative AI advertising systems, and even large-scale social platforms have developed homemade AI chips. Related developments are popular in the market. As a result, earnings in the communications services and IT sector are expected to further benefit.

Although recent risk aversion in the market has brought adjustments to US stocks, in the context of moderate economic growth supporting profits, the medium- to long-term will help reduce the high valuation of US stocks and thereby support stock market performance, and it is expected that US stocks will also pick up when the market atmosphere recovers. Furthermore, Zhang Shiqi anticipates that artificial intelligence will also indirectly benefit the energy sector. As the economy grows moderately, energy demand has already risen. Artificial intelligence computation requires the use of large amounts of energy, and the popularization of artificial intelligence will also increase electricity consumption. As a result, the utility sector, which includes electricity production and renewable energy, will also see a high profit margin in the first quarter of this year.