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Q2 Earnings Scorecard: Record Margins, Strong Beats, and Upward Revisions
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Note: The following is an excerpt from this week’s Earnings Trends report. You can access the full report that contains detailed historical actual and estimates for the current and following periods, please click here>>>
Here are the key points:
For the 451 S&P 500 companies reporting Q2 results (representing 90.2% of total index membership), aggregate earnings grew +41.6% year-over-year on +14.7% higher revenues. Positive Surprises were widespread, with 83.4% beating EPS estimates and 76.5% topping revenue estimates.
Earnings season has concluded for half of the 16 Zacks sectors, including Finance, Energy, and Basic Materials, with most remaining sectors having the majority of their results. Retail and Tech remain the exceptions, with a significant number of results still outstanding.
Aggregate figures were heavily bolstered by Micron’s (MU - Free Report) strong quarterly report and an unrealized gain on Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) SpaceX stake. However, the baseline growth pace still represents a notable acceleration relative to other recent periods when these growth drivers are stripped out.
Excluding Micron and Alphabet, Q2 earnings for the remaining 449 reporting index members rose +21.5% (compared to +41.6% unadjusted) on +13.6% higher revenue (compared to +14.7% unadjusted), maintaining a solid growth profile.
Q2 earnings growth within the Tech sector remains heavily concentrated in Nvidia (NVDA - Free Report) , Micron (MU - Free Report) , and Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) . Stripping the contribution of these three companies reduces Q2 earnings growth for the remainder of the Tech sector to +33.2% (down from +94.9%).
The Earnings Big Picture
The chart below shows S&P 500 expectations for 2026 Q2 in terms of what was achieved in the preceding four periods and what is currently expected for the following three quarters.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The chart below shows the overall earnings picture for the S&P 500 index on an annual basis.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The chart below shows the significant contribution of the Tech sector to the aggregate growth picture. The chart also shows how critical Nvidia, Micron, and Alphabet are to the 2026 aggregate growth tally.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Estimates for full-year 2026 have also been steadily going up, particularly since the start of March. The chart below shows the evolution of aggregate S&P 500 earnings estimates since last July.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Full-year 2026 earnings estimates have increased for 10 of the 16 Zacks sectors since the start of March, with the most pronounced gains in the Energy, Basic Materials, Tech, Industrials, Utilities, and Business Services sectors. On the negative side, estimates have been under pressure for the Transportation, Autos, Medical, and Consumer Discretionary sectors since the start of March.
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Q2 Earnings Scorecard: Record Margins, Strong Beats, and Upward Revisions
Note: The following is an excerpt from this week’s Earnings Trends report. You can access the full report that contains detailed historical actual and estimates for the current and following periods, please click here>>>
Here are the key points:
The Earnings Big Picture
The chart below shows S&P 500 expectations for 2026 Q2 in terms of what was achieved in the preceding four periods and what is currently expected for the following three quarters.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The chart below shows the overall earnings picture for the S&P 500 index on an annual basis.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The chart below shows the significant contribution of the Tech sector to the aggregate growth picture. The chart also shows how critical Nvidia, Micron, and Alphabet are to the 2026 aggregate growth tally.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Estimates for full-year 2026 have also been steadily going up, particularly since the start of March. The chart below shows the evolution of aggregate S&P 500 earnings estimates since last July.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Full-year 2026 earnings estimates have increased for 10 of the 16 Zacks sectors since the start of March, with the most pronounced gains in the Energy, Basic Materials, Tech, Industrials, Utilities, and Business Services sectors. On the negative side, estimates have been under pressure for the Transportation, Autos, Medical, and Consumer Discretionary sectors since the start of March.