Chart of the week | 18 May 2026 | BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas: The Q1 earnings season is wrapping up and results have far exceeded expectations, particularly in the US. For the S&P 500, earnings have risen 20% versus the same period a year ago. While technology companies’ earnings rose strongly, as expected, there was also solid growth across all sectors of the market. “Surprises”, that is, how much better the results were compared to forecasts, came to 10%; typically, the figure is 3%-4%. Results in Europe were still good but behind the US. Profits rose at half the rate and were very dependent on just two sectors: financials and energy. The results were nonetheless notably higher than expected.