Q1 Earnings: Tech Carries the Tape
Author: Samuel Miller
CFA®, CFP®, CAIA®
Executive Vice President of Investment Strategy
May 11, 2026
CHART OF THE WEEK
Q1 Earnings: Tech Carries the Tape
S&P 500 blended Q1 2026 EPS growth: +27.7%, the highest growth rate since Q4 2021.
What the chart shows, and why it matters for your portfolio
First-quarter earnings season is nearly complete, and the results have been the strongest since the pandemic-era recovery in late 2021. With 89% of S&P 500 companies having reported, the index is on track for blended year-over-year earnings growth of 27.7%, a number that is more than double what analysts were expecting at the end of March.
What the chart makes clear is that this is not a uniform recovery. Information Technology earnings grew roughly 50.7% year-over-year, led by semiconductor names where chip demand for AI infrastructure remains the dominant theme. Communication Services (+48.8%) and Consumer Discretionary (+39.7%) round out the leaders, propelled by a handful of mega-cap names, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, that continue to outgrow the rest of the index. Health Care was the only sector to post an outright earnings decline.
The key takeaway is encouraging but nuanced. Record-high index levels are being supported by genuine earnings growth, not multiple expansion, a healthier setup than in 2021. But the breadth of that growth is narrow, with a small group of names doing most of the heavy lifting. That argues less for taking risk off the table and more for disciplined rebalancing: trimming positions that have outrun their target weights, and making sure portfolios are not over-concentrated in the names everyone has already piled into.
Source: FactSet. Data reflects blended Q1 2026 year-over-year EPS growth with 89% of S&P 500 companies reported. This material is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal.
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