RESEARCH
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No. 140
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Earnings Are Accelerating
S&P 500 earnings just grew at the fastest rate of the cycle, with growth accelerating across the market.
Jacob Radke
2 min read
S&P 500 trailing-twelve-month operating earnings growth, year over year, from Q2 2023 through Q1 2026, with a daily S&P 500 index overlay.
Source · Robert Shiller’s Irrational Exuberance dataset and Yahoo Finance
Q1 earnings growth
+27.9%
S&P 500 trailing-twelve-month operating earnings, year over year.
Magnificent 7 growth
+63.2%
Single-quarter blended earnings growth.
Other 493 growth
+17.4%
Strongest earnings print for the group since 2021.
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S&P 500 trailing earnings grew +27.9% year-over-year in Q1. That’s the fastest of this cycle, and the sixth straight quarter of acceleration.
Magnificent 7 earnings grew +63.2% in the quarter. The other 493 grew +17.4%, which is the strongest print from that group since 2021.
Two years ago, trailing earnings were contracting through a rate shock, a war, and a regional banking crisis.
Until next week,
Jacob
Sources & method
Quarterly bars show trailing-twelve-month S&P 500 operating earnings, year-over-year change, computed from Robert Shiller’s Irrational Exuberance dataset using the monthly earnings series at quarter-end months.
The S&P 500 price overlay uses Yahoo Finance daily close data through May 21, 2026, when the index closed at 7,446.
The +27.9% Q1 2026 trailing-twelve-month figure is cross-checked against FactSet’s +27.7% blended single-quarter print. Magnificent 7 and Other 493 earnings growth figures are from FactSet Earnings Insight, May 21, 2026.
Written by
Jacob Radke
Partner, Wealth Advisor
Jacob writes the weekly charts. Jacob leads the firm’s platform, including trading, research, portfolio systems and technology. He also sits on the firm’s board and investment committee, and advises client families.
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