Goldman Sachs breaks down the key second-quarter earnings season trends so far

Published 04/08/2025, 13:12
© Reuters

Investing.com - Aggregate earnings per share growth on a year-on-year basis is tracking at roughly 9% for the second quarter, above consensus estimates at the start of the latest reporting period, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs.

A broadly solid corporate earnings season, which has helped to underline the staying power of a multi-year boom in enthusiasm around the applications of artificial intelligence, is set to march on this week.

"Earnings results have continued to demonstrate the growth exceptionalism of mega-cap tech," the Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

Big-name tech companies like Facebook-owner Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and software group Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) have delivered blowout results in recent days and, perhaps more notably, backed their plans for massive capital expenditures on AI.

These statements have tamped down some lingering fears over the impact of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff agenda, although a selection of firms have begun to hint that price hikes could be coming in the months ahead.

But the Goldman analysts added that commentary from second-quarter earnings calls has "so far reflected [...] confidence in the ability to mitigate the impacts of tariffs on profits."

"Of companies discussing the impact of tariffs on their businesses, 27% explicitly stated they now expect the profit headwind from tariffs to be smaller than their previous estimate," the brokerage said.

Still, with more than half of the businesses in the S&P 500 having reported, year-on-year earnings growth for the second quarter is seen at 9.8%, compared with an estimated uptick of 5.8% on July 1, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. More than 80% of the companies that have reported have topped analysts’ profit expectations, versus an average of 76% in the past four quarters.

This week, markets will be keeping an eye on earnings from the likes of economic bellwether Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), burger titan McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), and media giant Disney (NYSE:DIS). All of the firms are large members of the blue-chip Dow, which is now hovering just below its record high notched in December.

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