S&P 500 profits climb 35%, the fastest pace since 2021
According to LSEG Datastream data cited by Reuters, the forward price-to-earnings ratio for the S&P 500, which assigns a value to the index’s expected profits, has fallen to 19.2 from 22 at the start of the year and from a recent peak of 23.5 in October 2025.
Walter Todd, chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital in South Carolina, told Reuters that he and other investors are “questioning the durability” of the earnings numbers.
He said comparisons will be harder next year for many of these companies.
S&P 500 earnings are expected to rise 15 percent in 2027, according to LSEG IBES, slowing as AI capital spending decelerates and companies face difficult comparisons.
Barclays equity strategists put the median annualized growth rate over the past 35 years at 10 percent, Reuters reported, which the 2027 level would top.
