Small-cap stocks could finally outperform their large-cap counterparts in 2024, according to portfolio strategists at Goldman Sachs. “The combination of current low valuations and a healthy economic outlook suggests that the Russell 2000 small-cap index should return about 9% in the next six months and 15% in the next 12 months,” Ben Snyder, a Goldman Sachs analyst, wrote in an article on Monday. NB. This 15% forecast beats the expected 7% gain for the large-cap S&P 500 index that Goldman expects by the end of the year, or 9% when including earnings. Small companies lagged large companies by a wide margin in 2023, with the Russell 2000 up about 15% compared with a 24% gain for the S&P 500. The outperformance of large companies last year compared to their small-cap cousins is due in large part. to the meteoric rise of so-called “Big Seven” stocks, including artificial intelligence chip maker Nvidia and iPhone maker Apple. Snyder links the upbeat outlook for small stocks to Goldman’s macroeconomic outlook for next year, which projects 2% growth in U.S. GDP. Historically, “about two-thirds of the variance in 12-month Russell 2000 returns is explained by valuations at the beginning of each period and real U.S. economic growth during that period,” Snyder added. The expected 15% return for the Russell 2000 this year also matches the index’s historical average return of 16% during presidential election years dating back to 1984, Goldman said. The Wall Street investment bank examined stocks that are currently trading below their five-year average price to earnings multiple, and the five-year average price to book multiple. Here’s a look at some of the stocks that made Goldman’s list. Broadcast and digital media company Tegna cut shares of Goldman. The 64-station owner is ahead just over 1% so far in 2024 after falling nearly 28% in 2023. Tegna’s forward 12-month forward P/E ratio of 4 and its 12-month forward P/B multiple of 1.0% are both. Well below the record of the past five years. TGNA 1Y TEGNA Mountain Stock. Tegna last week renewed its affiliate deal with NBC, expanding the agreement into 20 markets covering about 17% of all U.S. households. Asset manager WisdomTree also made the Goldman screen. Shares are virtually unchanged in 2024 after rising 27% last year. Mountain Wisdom Tree Stock WT 1Y. Northcoast Research upgraded financial services stocks to Buy from Neutral at the end of December, according to a StreetAccount report. The company’s $9 stock price target suggests an upside of more than 31% in the future. Other names on Goldman’s list of small caps include Ziff Davis and Array Technologies. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting. Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.