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Last updated: September 2026. Editorial Team — researched using primary data from FactSet’s Earnings Insight reports, with additional analysis from AlphaSense, Zacks Investment Research, and Oppenheimer. See “Sources & Methodology” for our full source list.
Quick Answer
The S&P 500’s Q2 2026 earnings season delivered the strongest quarterly results since Q2 2021, with the blended earnings growth rate finishing around 50% year-over-year — more than double the 23.2% growth rate that had been expected at the close of the quarter itself. Even excluding unusually large one-time gains from Alphabet and Amazon, growth still came in at roughly 32%, still the second consecutive quarter above 25% and the seventh straight quarter of double-digit earnings growth. With 88% of companies having reported by early August, 86% beat earnings estimates — well above both the 5-year (78%) and 10-year (76%) averages — and for the first time in several years, all 11 GICS sectors reported positive revenue growth.
How the Growth Rate Climbed Through the Season
FactSet’s weekly earnings updates trace the growth rate’s trajectory in real time, and the pattern is instructive: the blended growth rate started at 23.2% at the end of the quarter (June 30), climbed to 37.9% by July 24 as 27% of companies had reported, reached 47.4% by July 31 with 61% reporting, and hit 50.4% by August 7 with 88% of companies reporting. That steady climb, rather than a single dramatic revision, reflects a season where company after company beat expectations by a wide margin rather than a handful of outlier results driving the whole number.
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The Alphabet and Amazon Effect
It’s important to be precise about how much of the headline number came from unusual, one-time factors at two specific companies. FactSet’s data shows that excluding Alphabet and Amazon.com entirely, the blended earnings growth rate for Q2 2026 would fall to 32.0% from 50.4% — still an exceptionally strong quarter, but meaningfully lower than the headline figure. The (GAAP) EPS actual for Alphabet alone included a gain of $98 billion in the quarter, an extraordinary one-time boost that FactSet identified as the single largest contributor to the overall growth-rate increase during the season. AlphaSense’s summary of the season is careful to make the same distinction: while these one-time investment gains had an outsized impact on the overall headline result, the underlying fundamentals remained genuinely robust independent of them, with about 85% of already-reported companies exceeding earnings estimates.
Broad-Based Strength, Not Just Two Companies
AlphaSense’s recap emphasizes a detail worth highlighting specifically because it addresses the natural skepticism that “the whole quarter was just Alphabet and Amazon”: the earnings strength was genuinely broad-based, with all 11 GICS sectors reporting positive revenue growth for the first time in several years. Oppenheimer’s August 10 market strategy note quantifies the breadth further: of the 443 firms that had reported by that point (89% of the index), 10 of the 11 sectors showed positive earnings growth from a year earlier, with 8 of those sectors posting double-digit or greater growth rates, and three sectors seeing earnings more than double year-over-year. The lone exception was healthcare, which saw earnings decline 7.5% despite revenue growth of 7.6% — a specific sector-level divergence worth noting given how unusual it is for revenue and earnings to move in opposite directions.
Revenue Growth Told Its Own Story
Beyond the headline earnings figure, FactSet’s data shows the index also reported its highest revenue growth rate since Q2 2022, at 12.2% — the second consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth for the index. All 11 sectors were projected to report year-over-year revenue growth heading into the season, led specifically by Information Technology, Energy, and Communication Services. Zacks’ independent analysis, based on an earlier subset of 81 reporting companies, found total earnings up 40.6% on 13.3% higher revenues, with 91.4% beating EPS estimates and 81.5% beating revenue estimates — describing this as “a notably better showing” relative to other recent periods on both metrics.
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Why Analysts Set the Bar High Going In
What makes this season’s beat rate especially notable is that analysts didn’t set a particularly easy bar to clear. Zacks’ analysis flags this specifically: analysts actually revised Q2 estimates upward heading into reporting season — the opposite of the typical historical pattern, where earnings expectations are usually lowered ahead of time to create a more easily clearable bar for companies. FactSet’s preseason data confirms this directly: on a per-share basis, estimated earnings for the second quarter increased 3.4% from March 31 to June 30, compared to the typical pattern where earnings expectations fall by an average of 2.0% to 2.7% during a quarter, based on 5- and 10-year historical averages respectively. Beating already-elevated expectations, rather than beating a deliberately lowered bar, is a meaningfully stronger signal of genuine underlying corporate strength.
What Comes Next
FactSet’s preseason data shows analysts projecting continued strong, if moderating, growth ahead: 26.8% for Q3 2026 and 24.4% for Q4 2026, with full-year 2026 earnings growth projected at 24.1%. Oppenheimer’s August strategy note flags one specific risk analysts are watching: with the market trading at elevated valuation levels partly justified by this earnings strength, any future disappointment relative to these still-ambitious forward estimates risks triggering a market pullback — a genuine two-sided risk given how much of the current rally rests on earnings continuing to outperform expectations by a wide margin.
Frequently Asked Questions
How strong was S&P 500 Q2 2026 earnings growth?
The blended earnings growth rate finished around 50% year-over-year, the strongest since Q2 2021, though excluding one-time gains from Alphabet and Amazon, growth was a still-strong 32%.
What percentage of companies beat earnings estimates?
86% of S&P 500 companies beat earnings estimates by early August, above both the 5-year average of 78% and the 10-year average of 76%.
Which sector had the weakest Q2 2026 earnings?
Healthcare was the only sector to see earnings decline, down 7.5% year-over-year despite revenue growth of 7.6%.
What is the earnings growth outlook for the rest of 2026?
FactSet projects 26.8% growth for Q3 2026, 24.4% for Q4 2026, and 24.1% for full-year 2026, though these remain forward estimates subject to revision.
Sources & Methodology
This article draws on primary data from: FactSet’s S&P 500 Earnings Season Update reports for July 17, July 24, July 31, and August 7, 2026, and its Q2 2026 Earnings Season Preview; AlphaSense’s Q2 2026 earnings recap; Zacks Investment Research’s July 22, 2026 analysis of early-season earnings beats; and Oppenheimer’s August 10, 2026 market strategy note. Figures reflect the most recently published data as of this article’s last-updated date; the earnings season’s final numbers may differ slightly from the last cited blended figures as remaining companies report.
This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
