AI Earnings and Oil Profits Led Market Gains Through September
U.S. indexes advanced through September as AI-linked technology earnings and rising crude prices lifted two key areas of market leadership.
The S&P 500 gained 11.4% from January through September, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 15.6%. Gains were led by technology companies tied to AI spending and energy stocks benefiting from higher crude prices.
The gains came amid a tougher backdrop. The 10-year Treasury yield moved above 5%, and Brent crude rose about 40% in the third quarter, according to the article.
Zacks expects technology earnings to grow 42.1% in the third quarter, with semiconductor earnings projected to rise 85.5% on 62.8% revenue growth. Zacks estimates put tech earnings growth at 29.6% without semiconductors and 20.6% without NVIDIA, Micron and Alphabet.
NVIDIA reported fiscal second-quarter 2027 revenue growth of 106% year over year, while Data Center revenue rose 117%. Micron reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue growth of 379.3%, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.33%.
In energy, Middle East disruptions pushed Brent above $100 a barrel during September. Zacks expects the sector’s third-quarter earnings to jump 111.8%.
Chevron reported $12 billion in second-quarter adjusted earnings, while Exxon Mobil reported $14.7 billion. Chevron’s upstream earnings rose 200% to $8.2 billion, and Exxon reported $23.6 billion in operating cash flow.
This article was produced with the help of AI technology.
Source: Yahoo Finance
