After posting 49.9% year-over-year growth in Q2 2026 earnings per share, which was more than twice the expected gain, companies in the S&P 500 Index (^SPX) are now projected to show a 24.3% YOY increase in Q3 2026, suggests Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
For full-year 2026, S&P 500 EPS are forecast to rise 31.3%, followed by a 16.7% increase in 2027 and 17.1% growth in 2028. Full-year 2026/2027 gains for the S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600 are now seen at +26.1%/+15.9% and +32.9%/+18.0%, respectively.
In addition, the S&P 500 Growth Index will likely post a 48.4% increase for 2026 and a 24.3% gain in 2027. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Value Index should record a gain of 18.1% in 2026 and then slow to a 9.4% rise in 2027.
The S&P 500’s expected Q3 2026 EPS growth will be mainly driven by the near-36% gain in the S&P 500 Growth Index, fueled by a 63.3% surge in the information technology sector. We expect other leading YOY gains to be seen in the energy (+123.1%) and materials (+30.5%) sectors.
Conversely, the areas likely to deliver the weakest growth rates are the consumer discretionary, consumer staples, health care, and real estate sectors.