Goldman Sachs sees strong momentum in Asia driven by AI spending

Goldman Sachs says Asia is having a very good AI year. The bank points to Japan, India and China as the places where the momentum is strongest. The driver is money spent on AI infrastructure: chips, power and data centers. Goldman thinks that spending wave is far from over, and it has raised its forecasts accordingly. Kevin Sneader, Goldman’s president for Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, made the case during a Bloomberg TV interview on October 14, 2026. He singled out North Asia as a particular winner from AI-related capital expenditure. The numbers behind the optimism Goldman now projects a 26% return in US dollar terms for the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex-Japan index over the next 12 months. The bank’s target for the index is 1,120. The earnings path the bank sketches is steep. Goldman expects regional earnings growth of 75% in 2026, followed by 25% in 2027 and 14% in 2028. Put differently, the firm is anticipating earnings growth averaging 34% a year through 2028. It also lifted its 10-year annual earnings growth forecast for the region to 10%. Much of that profit is expected to come from one sector. Goldman forecasts that IT will account for 47% of Asian regional earnings in 2026. Wit...