Quarterly Insights Report
Q2 2026 Insights
Markets staged an impressive rebound in the second quarter as a surge in tech-related corporate earnings growth combined with rising hopes for a U.S./Iran ceasefire to push stocks sharply higher, as the major U.S. averages hit new all-time highs.
Markets received positive news almost immediately in the second quarter as, on April 7th, President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, ending direct hostilities between the two countries. That news (and the subsequent move lower in oil prices) helped stocks recoup the geopolitically driven March declines, but it was really a stellar first-quarter earnings season that fueled the market rally in April. Annual earnings growth surged to approximately 15% for the S&P 500 following the Q1 results, a number nearly double the long-term average. While AI-linked tech companies posted some of the stronger earnings growth on booming data center demand, a broad swath of companies and sectors posted strong financial results as more than 80% of the companies reporting during the Q1 season beat Wall Street estimates. That AI-led earnings growth, along with the U.S./Iran ceasefire, helped fuel the strong rebound in stocks.