Companies are expressing hopes for economic growth but there is no sign of it yet, analyst Peter Boockvar told CNBC on Wednesday.
"Some of the CEOs that I listen to still don't necessarily see reason for an acceleration in growth outside of just the hope for it," the chief market analyst for The Lindsey Group said in an interview with "Closing Bell."
He thinks there should be a pickup in real business activity in the second quarter after what is likely to be "very mediocre" first-quarter earnings reports — and that's not happening.
"We're still stuck in this 2 percent-type economy with hopes, obviously, for an acceleration but no physical signs of it just yet," added Boockvar, a CNBC contributor.
Optimism picked up after President Donald Trump's election in November. He's promised to boost economic growth through tax reform, deregulation and fiscal spending.
However, Trump has maintained overhauling health care is his first order of business, and Republicans failed to get their health-care plan through Congress last month.
Anton Schutz, president of Mendon Capital Advisors, told "Power Lunch" that optimism will be good for bank stocks.
In fact, he thinks the most important thing that's come out of bank earnings so far is JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan talking about confidence among businesses and consumers.
"That optimism will translate into higher growth and higher earnings," Schutz predicted.