[Goldman Sachs strategist downplays concerns about "profit bubble" in U.S. companies and expects the S&P 500 index to rise to 8,700 points within a year] On September 18, Goldman Sachs Group strategists said that the strong economic prospects and artificial intelligence boom are behind the sharp growth in U.S. corporate profits, and the market's concerns about the "profit bubble" have been exaggerated. Data show that the profits of S&P 500 companies in the first two quarters of this year both increased by about 30%, which is one of the strongest performances on record. The full-year profit growth forecast is the highest since the economic rebound after the epidemic in 2021. While this growth rate suggests that corporate profits may be above sustainable levels as investment in AI surges, a team of Goldman Sachs strategists led by Ben Snider expects profit growth to gradually slow down in the coming years rather than collapse outright. "The current market pricing has already factored in expectations for continued earnings growth, but investors remain cautious about the sustainability of current profitability," Snider wrote in the report. Snider expects the S&P 500 to rise 14% over the next year to about 8,700, with the main driver coming from earnings growth rather than valuation expansion. At the beginning of this year, he was one of the more optimistic strategists about the prospects of U.S. stocks, and accurately predicted that strong earnings and AI applications would offset the impact of rising oil prices and interest rate hikes, allowing the bull market to continue.