S&P 500 Earnings Jump 50.4% on AI Boom, Fastest Since 2021
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Finance · Aug 16
S&P 500 Earnings Jump 50.4% on AI Boom, Fastest Since 2021
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Finance · Aug 16
Summary
FactSet projects S&P 500 earnings per share will rise 50.4% this quarter, the index’s fastest growth since Q2 2021 and the first such surge this century without a rebound from a prior earnings collapse.
AI infrastructure spending is driving the jump, with chipmakers and related suppliers converting demand into profits rather than the “paper” gains critics say underpin the rally.
Micron illustrates that trend: its fiscal third-quarter GAAP net income climbed to $28.2 billion from $1.89 billion a year earlier, part of the earnings wave lifting the index.
Earlier 50%-plus S&P 500 earnings bursts came in 2021, 2009-10 and 2003 after pandemic, financial-crisis and dot-com downturns; this time, profits were already at record levels before the latest acceleration.