Earnings Bonanza That No One Saw Coming Fuels Stocks’ Record Run
“It’s been a wake-up call for Wall Street as stocks race from record to record.”
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergThe war in Iran was supposed to derail the rally in US stocks and weigh on company outlooks. Instead a blowout earnings season is providing fresh fodder for Wall Street bulls.
Corporate America has outstripped expectations by the widest margin outside the Covid-19 era since at least 2013, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data. First-quarter profits at S&P 500 companies have surged 27% so far, more than double the roughly 12% analysts had penciled in. The last time year-on-year earnings grew at that pace outside of recoveries from major shocks was over two decades ago, in 2004.