# S&P 500 Earnings Growth Reaches 30.2% as Aggregate Beat Trails Historical Averages

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/48646
Published: 2026-11-04T16:49:09.000Z
Updated: 2026-11-04T16:49:09.000Z
Section: Business

> By Oct. 30, 60% of S&P 500 companies had reported, and 82% of those companies posted earnings per share above estimates.

S&P 500 companies' third-quarter earnings growth reached a blended 30.2% year over year as of Oct. 30, while reported results topped analyst estimates by 1.9% in aggregate.

The blended rate combines reported earnings with estimates for companies that had not yet reported. It increased from 29.5% the previous week and 29.1% on Sept. 30. Those readings track the year-over-year pace of earnings growth, not the size of results relative to expectations.

By Oct. 30, 60% of S&P 500 companies had reported third-quarter results. Among reporting companies, 82% posted earnings per share (EPS) above estimates. The aggregate earnings surprise of 1.9% was below the five-year average of 7.5% and the 10-year average of 8.0%.

The two surprise measures describe different things. The 82% figure counts the share of companies with EPS above estimates; the 1.9% figure measures the amount by which reported earnings exceeded estimates across the reporting group. A high share of companies can beat forecasts while the combined margin remains below its historical averages. The 1.9% figure was provisional because only part of the index had reported by Oct. 30.

All 11 sectors were posting year-over-year earnings growth in the snapshot, and seven had double-digit gains. Energy, Information Technology and Materials led. The sector figures show growth across the index's 11 groups, with three sectors leading.

Goldman Sachs projected S&P 500 EPS growth of about 11% in both 2027 and 2028, with earnings per share reaching $415 and $460, respectively. “Our base case is for S&P 500 earnings growth to decelerate, not collapse, in coming years,” said Ben Snider, Goldman Sachs' chief U.S. equity strategist.