Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon Add $69 Billion to S&P 500 Earnings, Halving Underlying Growth
Updated
Updated · The Motley Fool · Jul 23
Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon Add $69 Billion to S&P 500 Earnings, Halving Underlying Growth
3 articles · Updated · The Motley Fool · Jul 23
Summary
$69 billion in combined “other income” from Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon made up about 10% of total S&P 500 earnings last quarter, sharply boosting headline profit growth.
Without those unrealized investment gains, S&P 500 earnings growth would have fallen from nearly 29% to about 15%, even as analysts still project 23.6% second-quarter and 25.1% full-year growth.
Alphabet booked nearly $38 billion of other income against roughly $37 billion of operating cash flow, while Amazon and Nvidia each recorded about $16 billion, largely tied to stakes in Anthropic, SpaceX, OpenAI and Intel.
Second-quarter gains could swell again because SpaceX’s valuation jumped to about $2.25 trillion and Anthropic’s to $965 billion, though Intel and SpaceX have already slipped below quarter-end prices.
That volatility matters because GAAP results at Amazon and Alphabet can turn investment swings into big earnings beats or misses, potentially distorting valuations across an already expensive market.
Is the AI boom building real value or an accounting illusion for the stock market?
When investments earn more than the main business, what are investors actually buying?
S&P 500 Earnings Hit All-Time High in Q1 2026: Tech-Led Rally Raises Concentration and Sustainability Concerns
Overview
In Q1 2026, the S&P 500 saw strong corporate profitability and accelerating earnings growth, driving the index toward record highs. This rally was supported by broad-based participation, with eight out of eleven sectors reporting year-over-year earnings growth. The Information Technology sector led the surge with a 45% increase, followed by significant gains in Materials and Financials. This widespread strength across sectors highlights a healthy economic environment and underpins the market’s upward momentum, setting a solid foundation for potential further gains by year-end.