S&P 500 Earnings Season Update: August 7, 2026

Key Points:

• As of late Q2 earnings season, 88% of S&P 500 companies have reported results, with 86% exceeding EPS estimates, marking the highest positive surprise rate since Q2 2021 and significantly above 5- and 10-year averages.
• The overall earnings surprise is 29.2% above estimates, a record high since FactSet began tracking in 2008, largely driven by massive gains from Alphabet and Amazon.com; excluding these two, the surprise rate drops to 10.9% but remains above historical averages.
• The blended earnings growth rate for Q2 2026 stands at 50.4%, the highest since Q2 2021, with ten of eleven sectors showing year-over-year earnings growth; the Health Care sector is the only one reporting a decline.
• Revenue performance is strong, with 76% of companies beating estimates and aggregate revenues 3.2% above expectations, leading to a blended revenue growth rate of 15.0%, the highest since Q4 2021.
• Analysts project continued robust earnings growth for the remainder of 2026, with expected growth rates of 27.4% in Q3, 25.2% in Q4, and 30.0% for the full year; the forward 12-month P/E ratio is 20.0, slightly above recent averages but below the level at the end of Q2.