Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to rise 22.6% year on year in the third quarter of 2026, while revenue is projected to increase 10.9%. Growth is expected to spread to nearly all sectors, supported by contributions from mega-cap technology companies.
Third-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to rise 22.6% year on year, while revenue is projected to increase 10.9%. According to an analysis by Zacks Investment Research, growth is accelerating and spreading across the broader market.
The firm's research division notes that earnings growth is expected in 14 of the 16 sectors, with double-digit growth projected in 5 sectors. The technology sector remains the primary growth driver, although its contribution is concentrated among a handful of large companies.
Earnings growth for the technology sector as a whole is projected at 39.3%, compared with 18.9% when GOOGL, MU and NVDA are excluded. This suggests that sectors outside technology are also making a broader relative contribution to growth.
The momentum behind upward revisions is not limited to the current quarter. Forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2026 have also been raised, with sustained growth expected across multiple sectors. This indicates that expectations are increasingly shifting toward more broadly based growth.