European equities are drawing a notably bullish tilt in published research this week, with one clear dissenting voice.
Several research notes argue European stocks have meaningful room to run, pointing to consensus earnings growth above 16% for the year, broadening inflows from investors diversifying away from volatile US AI names, and Europe's underappreciated exposure to AI capex through semiconductors, capital goods, banks and utilities. One camp of analysts expects European markets to catch up in the second half of 2026 as rotation out of AI-heavy US indices benefits cyclicals and consumer names, helped by softer oil prices and easing rate pressure. A separate thread of recent research flags pre-market signals pointing to the DAX reclaiming 24,700+ at the start of the week.
At the sector level, the published consensus favors European semiconductors on AI capex exposure, followed by banks (steeper yield curves), capital goods and utilities. Beiersdorf is singled out in technical research as having completed a base with identifiable upside targets.
The contrarian view: one strand of research flags sharp cuts in European equity positioning by institutional investors, citing weak relative earnings upgrades versus the US and tech-heavy Asia, and expects continued underweighting while the rally stays narrow.