US Corporate AI Spending Surges, But Earnings Impact Lags Behind
US corporate spending on artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating, but its earnings impact remains limited for now. This is according to Goldman Sachs' analysis of S&P 500 companies' Q2 2026 earnings. The report found that AI infrastructure firms are already benefiting significantly from their capital expenditure, with earnings rising 54% year-on-year.
This accounts for around half of the S&P 500's earnings growth during the quarter. However, the direct earnings impact of AI adoption among US companies remains narrow, with only 2% of S&P 500 companies quantifying the impact of AI productivity on earnings.
The report also found that enterprise AI spending is rising sharply, with monthly AI spending per employee at the median company increasing to USD 12 in July from USD 5 at the start of the year. Among the top 10% of companies by AI spending, expenditure rose to USD 650 per employee from USD 240.
Goldman Sachs noted that as US companies move from experimentation to wider deployment, the productivity benefits of AI should become clearer in earnings. For now, investors continue to favour AI infrastructure companies, where the earnings impact of AI spending is more immediate and visible.