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Wall Street analysts and their fundamental analysis have been left behind by the power of the market's comeback from the depths of the coronavirus recession.
More than 60% of S&P 500 stocks are now trading above their average 12-month price target from analysts, according to Strategas. Some stocks are trading as much as 40% above where Wall Street analysts expected the company to be in the next year.
"Historically when your'e coming off some pretty major market bottoms, whether its the 2003 low or 2009 low, the bottoms-up analysts — the people who cover the actual stocks —are just very late to recognize improvement and are therefore slow to raise their price targets or raise their estimates," Christopher Verrone, partner at Strategas Securities, told CNBC.
Despite being lower on Tuesday, U.S. equities have seen a major comeback from the depths of the coronavirus market rout. The major averages have made back all or nearly all their year-to-date losses as investors have piled into beaten down airlines, cruise lines and retailers in hopes for a return in demand.
"People are having a very difficult time reconciling what the market has done with what they've perceived to be this apocalyptic economic backdrop," Verrone added. "And that's common off of every low. Markets always bottom before the data improves or before things get better. Maybe the magnitude of it is an outlier but the trend is not uncommon relative to what you've see during some of these historical market bottoms."
Verrone said this backdrop sets the stage for the sell side to raise their targets and earnings over the next six to 12 months, a historically bullish event.
CNBC used FactSet to screen the S&P 500 names furthest above their average price target on Wall Street. Take a look at the high-flying list.
