Goldman Sachs forecasts 27% jump in S&P 500 profits as AI spending carries the load

Goldman Sachs expects S&P 500 companies to report earnings-per-share growth of 27% year over year for the third quarter. The main engine, in the bank’s view, is corporate spending on artificial intelligence. That would be a slowdown from the adjusted 33% growth logged in the second quarter. It would also be the third straight quarter above 25%. What Goldman is projecting The forecast comes from a report dated October 2, 2026, led by Goldman Sachs strategist Ben Snider. The headline figure measures earnings per share, meaning the profit each share of stock can claim. Three consecutive quarters of growth above 25% is unusual. According to the research, streaks like this have mostly appeared when the economy was bouncing back from a crisis. The fuel is spending on AI infrastructure, which Goldman projects will account for more than half of the index’s overall earnings growth. The sector breakdown is lopsided. Information technology and energy together are expected to deliver nearly 80% of the S&P 500’s EPS expansion. A very small group doing very heavy lifting Goldman expects the top ten contributors to generate 68% of total EPS growth. Within that group, chipmakers Nvidia and...