The stock market had a no good, very bad day on Friday, Feb. 2, as the S&P 500 shed 3.8% for the week just days after January saw the best monthly performance for stocks since March 2016.

Losses continued into Monday, Feb. 5, as futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were all lower. Investors were left wondering if this is a simple downturn or the start of something more ominous.

According to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts, Wall Street isn't in for the same wicked stock market crash that played out in 1987.

The S&P 500 rallied 6% in January 2018. In the 12 other years since 1950 that have seen a 5% or more return in the first month of a new year, only 1987 saw a decline in the following 11 months, Goldman found.

"Unlike then, YTD performance has been driven entirely by EPS revisions," Goldman said. "Stronger GDP growth, higher commodity prices and a weaker USD than our baseline assumptions could extend revisions and push S&P 500 above our target of 2850 (+3%) to as high as 3000 (+9%)."

Investors monitoring volatility as the year took off were quick to draw comparisons to 1987, when a return of 13% in January and additional 20% rise through August were decimated on Black Monday in October 1987, when the index fell by 20%. The full-year return for the S&P 500 in 1987 was 2%.

This year isn't like 1987, though. Bottom-up EPS for 2018 has been lifted 7% since November, analysts found, to $156 on average at an 18% growth rate over 2017. Aside from 1987, all other episodes that saw a more than 5% rally in January experienced an 11-month return of 17% on average.

But don't expect returns at that level just yet. Goldman said it expects the S&P 500 will finish 2018 at 2850, up about 4% from Monday levels.

Goldman said rising interest rates will prevent price-to-earnings ratio expansion above the current average level of 18 times. Corporate buybacks and household demand support the bull case, analysts wrote, though tactical positioning data are "concerning." With that, Goldman said, "Investors could use options to maintain upside exposure while limiting risk."

Want to know more about Black Monday in '87 as stocks tumble? Take a look at TheStreet's in-depth coverage 30 years later here: