What you need to know about Kevin Warsh, President Trump’s pick for Fed Chair
Kevin Warsh is a former Federal Reserve Board member selected by President Donald Trump to lead the Federal Reserve Board.
Large U.S. companies may be on track to report their best profits in more than 15 years, according to an analysis released Friday.
A third of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results, with an average net profit margin of 13.2%, according to a report by John Butters, senior earnings analyst at data provider FactSet.
If the actual net profit margin for the quarter were 13.2% when all companies finished reporting, it would be the highest since FactSet began tracking the metric in 2009.
Of course, Net Profit Margin is just one way to slice and dice all the data that comes with revenue, and Butters pointed out that some of the other measurements are a little less rosy.
For example, of the 11 S&P 500 sectors (grouping stocks by industry and function), three sectors reported an increase in net profit margin in the last three months of 2025 compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. However, eight sectors reported a decline in net profit margins over the same period.
Still, companies are performing well given the headwinds from tariffs and other policy uncertainty, Butters wrote.
“It’s interesting to see that analysts think the S&P 500’s net profit margin will be even higher in 2026,” he added. “As of today, our estimated net margins for the first quarter of 2026 through the fourth quarter of 2026 are 13.2%, 13.8%, 14.2% and 14.2%, respectively.”
As previously reported, analysts expect U.S. stocks to close higher in 2026, but differ on how much.
In December, Deutsche Bank strategists expected the S&P 500 to rise 18%, while LPL Financial expected it to rise about 8%.
Despite the tariff increases, corporate profits are supported by a rush to use artificial intelligence technology and tax cuts passed in 2025.
