Samantha LaDuc Predicts 8200 SPX as SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI Mega IPOs Approach

A Financial Sense interview with Jim Puplava and Samantha LaDuc, Chief Market Strategist at LaDuc Trading, framed a market push toward record territory as an “AI ecosystem trade” that is pulling forward “forward earnings,” with LaDuc saying she expects “8200 SPX” this year.

“The Union for Savings and Investment (USI) aims to create a true single market for financing in the EU, erasing national borders”

Banque de France

LaDuc tied that outlook to “the falling value of the dollar” and “the mega IPOs coming in this year of SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI,” describing a timeline in which the market stays “nice and robust into basically the June SpaceX IPO all the way to October, which is Anthropic.”

Banque de France

In the same conversation, LaDuc said “Higher oil and yields above 4.8% on the 10-year would pressure equities,” while also stating that this pressure “isn’t expected to hit until Q3.”

Euronews, meanwhile, argued that the EU is “losing the global AI race” on key metrics beyond regulation, saying the United States has produced “40 AI foundation models” while China has developed “15” and “All of Europe together has created only three.”

Euronews quoted Clark Parsons, head of the European Startup Network, arguing that the EU should “stop patting itself on the back for being the world’s technology regulator,” and adding that the bloc should “start thinking about how to unleash incredible growth.”

In the same Euronews report, Parsons questioned whether regulation is the best way to ensure trust in a fast-moving sector, noting that “predicting what will happen is hard, but entrepreneurs and smart technologists will find ways to establish trust and safeguards.”

Euronews

Financial Sense presented a different lens on momentum, with LaDuc saying markets “love mania over boredom every time,” and describing how the AI trade has been “feeding the frenzy” as investors price forward earnings.

TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC conversation in Athens added another view of the IPO wave, with Ben Blume saying, “These are phenomenal companies,” and Niko Bonatsos describing how his co-founder at Verdict was the first-ever investor in Cursor, which he linked to the broader liquidity cycle.

Financial Sense said LaDuc expects the AI trade to remain supported into October, while also warning that “Rising yields, not oil, will be the kryptonite for AI bulls,” with potential “2027 surprises post-midterms” as “funding costs rise.”

“The EU is leading the AI race when it comes to regulation, such as the AI Act, but the United States and China are ahead in innovation and investment”

Euronews

Euronews connected the EU’s competitive challenge to financing and infrastructure, saying the United States invests “four to ten times more than the EU” and that Europe has “fewer data centers and far less AI-specific computing capacity.”

BNP Paribas’ discussion of Europe’s financing environment pointed to a “valley” at the growth stage, stating that “As of September 30, 2025, average raises in Series B and C reached $30 million and $50 million,” while noting that “very few companies manage to obtain such amounts at that stage.”

Telos argued that Europe’s venture capital gap has consequences for innovation and company formation, citing that in 2024 the Draghi report found “no EU company with a market capitalization exceeding €100 billion had been created from scratch in the past fifty years,” while also stating that “the six American companies valued at over €1,000 billion had all been created in that period.”