S&P 500 Earnings Growth Is Set to Slow Across Nearly Every Sector

Corporate earnings growth is expected to slow broadly in Q3 2026.
10 of the 11 S&P 500 sectors are projected to report lower year-over-year earnings growth than they did in Q2.
Consumer Discretionary is expected to see the sharpest deceleration, with earnings growth falling from roughly 91% YoY in Q2 to just 2% in Q3.
Communication Services is projected to remain strong at about 66% growth, but that would still be a major slowdown from 126% in the previous quarter.
Financials are expected to cool even more sharply, from 22.3% growth to just 2.4%.
Even the two strongest-performing sectors are facing slower earnings momentum.
Energy earnings growth is projected to ease from 147.8% to 122.5%, while Information Technology is expected to slow from 77.9% to 65.9%.
Importantly, slower growth does not necessarily mean earnings are contracting.
Several sectors are still expected to produce very strong year-over-year gains, but the rate of acceleration that supported valuations earlier in the year is fading.
That raises the bar for earnings season, particularly in sectors where stock prices already reflect aggressive growth expectations.
With growth slowing across almost the entire index, guidance and forward estimates may matter even more than headline Q3 results.