# Corporate America has never been this profitable > Source: > Published: 2026-06-05 11:17:19+00:00 # Corporate America has never been this profitable The S&P 500’s profit margin just hit a record high. AI is lifting almost everything in sight, from [minting](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/the-ai-stock-rally-is-minting-us-millionaires-at-its-fastest-clip-in-4-years-100000906.html) new millionaires at a historic pace to [vaulting](https://sherwood.news/markets/south-korea-surged-past-canada-become-the-seventh-largest-global-stock-market-ai-boom/) an entire country up the ranks of the world's biggest stock markets. And with the US sitting [at the center](https://restofworld.org/2026/us-ai-investment-global-funding-gap/) of that boom, corporate America is squeezing more profit out of every dollar it brings in than ever before. In the first quarter, S&P 500 companies kept **nearly 15 cents** of profit for every dollar of revenue, according to FactSet — the [highest figure recorded](https://advantage.factset.com/hubfs/Website/Resources%20Section/Research%20Desk/Earnings%20Insight/EarningsInsight_052926A.pdf) since the data provider began tracking the metric in 2009, and [more than double](https://dqydj.com/sp-500-profit-margin/) the long-run historical average of around 6 cents going back to 1946. Much of it comes down to the index’s new center of gravity: a handful of *unusually* profitable tech giants. The Magnificent 7 alone account for [ more than a third](https://www.slickcharts.com/sp500) of the S&P 500’s market value, and they’re punching far above their weight on earnings, posting **63.2%** earnings growth in Q1, [of the other 493 companies.](https://insight.factset.com/mag-7-and-other-493-sp-500-companies-are-reporting-highest-earnings-growth-since-2021#:~:text=As%20a%20result,Q4%202021%20(32.3%25).) **nearly 4x** the rateBloomberg data through June 4 shows the trend holding, with both operating and net profit margins at their **highest in at least two decades** — meaning companies are making more from their core businesses, as well as keeping more for shareholders after costs, interest, and taxes are paid. Both measures have climbed sharply back from the depths of the 2008 financial crisis and the shock of Covid, with the latest leg ripping higher on strong AI demand, blockbuster mega-cap earnings, and years of sweeping layoffs and "[efficiency](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-05-20/meta-begins-8-000-global-job-cuts-in-ai-efficiency-push)" pushes that have become a [staple](https://sherwood.news/markets/ai-is-becoming-a-go-to-reason-for-layoffs-but-is-it-actually-replacing/) of Big Tech earnings calls. Still, the profit boom comes with concentration risk. [Goldman Sachs](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/s-and-p-500-forecast-to-climb-as-earnings-growth-powers-stocks-higher) warned last week that AI-infrastructure beneficiaries are expected to account for **roughly half **of all S&P 500 earnings growth this year — leaving more of the outlook riding on whether the [massive AI buildout](https://sherwood.news/markets/alphabets-80-billion-equity-raise-is-a-signal-that-the-ai-party-can-continue/) eventually translates into durable profits.