{"id":50842,"date":"2025-07-22T06:08:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T10:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/economic-slowdown-forecasts-emerge-amid-rising-geopolitical-tensions-tech-giants-see-price-target-hikes\/50842\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T06:08:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T10:08:36","slug":"economic-slowdown-forecasts-emerge-amid-rising-geopolitical-tensions-tech-giants-see-price-target-hikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/economic-slowdown-forecasts-emerge-amid-rising-geopolitical-tensions-tech-giants-see-price-target-hikes\/50842\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic Slowdown Forecasts Emerge Amid Rising Geopolitical Tensions; Tech Giants See Price Target Hikes"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bank of America (<a href=\"\/stock\/BAC\">BofA<\/a>)<\/strong> and <strong>Goldman Sachs (<a href=\"\/stock\/GS\">GS<\/a>)<\/strong> have revised down their <strong>US nonfarm payroll and GDP growth forecasts<\/strong> for late 2025 and 2026, with <strong>BofA<\/strong> projecting average payroll growth of around <strong>50,000<\/strong> in 2H 2025 and <strong>70,000<\/strong> in 2026, largely due to <em>supply-side factors<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Kremlin<\/strong> has voiced concerns over an <em>urgent escalation of tensions<\/em> in the <strong>Middle East<\/strong>, including <em>nuclear ones<\/em>, while simultaneously stating that <em>no breakthrough is expected<\/em> in the upcoming round of <strong>negotiations with Ukraine<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>BofA Global Research<\/strong> upgraded <strong>UBS Group AG (<a href=\"\/stock\/UBS\">UBS<\/a>)<\/strong> to Neutral from Underperform, raising its price objective to <strong>CHF 31<\/strong> from <strong>CHF 25<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Scotiabank<\/strong> significantly increased price targets for major tech companies: <strong>Alphabet Inc. (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>)<\/strong> to <strong>$240<\/strong> from <strong>$200<\/strong>, <strong>Amazon (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMZN\">AMZN<\/a>)<\/strong> to <strong>$275<\/strong> from <strong>$250<\/strong>, and <strong>Meta (<a href=\"\/stock\/META\">META<\/a>)<\/strong> to <strong>$675<\/strong> from <strong>$525<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Economic Outlook Softens for Late 2025 and 2026<\/h3>\n<p>Leading financial institutions are adjusting their outlooks for the U.S. economy, signaling a potential slowdown in job growth and overall economic expansion. <strong>Bank of America (<a href=\"\/stock\/BAC\">BofA<\/a>)<\/strong> has lowered its nonfarm payroll forecasts to an average of approximately <strong>50,000<\/strong> in the second half of 2025 and <strong>70,000<\/strong> in 2026, down from previous estimates of 70,000 and 75,000, respectively. This anticipated deceleration is primarily attributed to <em>supply-side factors<\/em> rather than a significant drop in demand. BofA also expects the unemployment rate (u-rate) to increase by only about a tenth per quarter for three quarters.<\/p>\n<p>Concurrently, <strong>Goldman Sachs (<a href=\"\/stock\/GS\">GS<\/a>)<\/strong> projects <em>real US GDP growth<\/em> to remain below <strong>2%<\/strong> this year and next, with payroll growth at <strong>90,000 per month<\/strong> or below for the remainder of the year. This aligns with a broader sentiment of a cooling labor market, though some reports indicate continued resilience.<\/p>\n<h3>Geopolitical Tensions Escalate in Middle East and Ukraine<\/h3>\n<p>Geopolitical developments remain a focal point, with the <strong>Kremlin<\/strong> issuing stark warnings regarding international stability. The Kremlin stated that it sees an <em>urgent escalation of the situation in the Middle East<\/em>, including <em>nuclear tensions<\/em>. This follows recent discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian officials concerning Iran&#39;s nuclear program and regional escalations. Russia has offered mediation efforts in the Middle East, while condemning Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities.<\/p>\n<p>On the <strong>Ukraine<\/strong> front, the <strong>Kremlin<\/strong> has tempered expectations for the upcoming round of negotiations, stating that <em>no breakthrough is expected<\/em>. Discussions on the agenda are described as &quot;complicated,&quot; and memorandums need to be thoroughly discussed. Previous rounds of talks in Istanbul have yielded prisoner exchanges but no significant progress towards a ceasefire or an end to the conflict, with both sides remaining &quot;diametrically opposed&quot; on key issues.<\/p>\n<h3>Analyst Ratings and Price Target Adjustments<\/h3>\n<p>In the financial sector, <strong>BofA Global Research<\/strong> has upgraded <strong>UBS Group AG (<a href=\"\/stock\/UBS\">UBS<\/a>)<\/strong> to Neutral from Underperform, simultaneously raising its price objective for the Swiss banking giant to <strong>CHF 31<\/strong> from <strong>CHF 25<\/strong>. This upgrade reflects a more attractive proposition for UBS, combining some relative headwinds with areas of strong growth.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <strong>Scotiabank<\/strong> has shown increased confidence in several major technology companies. The firm raised its target price for <strong>Alphabet Inc. (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>)<\/strong> to <strong>$240<\/strong> from <strong>$200<\/strong>. <strong>Amazon (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMZN\">AMZN<\/a>)<\/strong> also saw its target price increased to <strong>$275<\/strong> from <strong>$250<\/strong>. Furthermore, <strong>Meta Platforms (<a href=\"\/stock\/META\">META<\/a>)<\/strong> received a substantial target price hike to <strong>$675<\/strong> from <strong>$525<\/strong>. These adjustments signal a bullish outlook from Scotiabank on the growth prospects of these tech giants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Bank of America (BofA) and Goldman Sachs (GS) have revised down their US nonfarm payroll and GDP growth [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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