Corporate profit margins. Margins near record highs are what the bull case rests on; mean reversion is the bear case.
What to watch: S&P 500 net margin; BEA corporate profits. It arrives quarterly, and the effect typically lasts years.
It sits in tier 2 — Directional: Moves the index for days or weeks. Scheduled data releases, policy decisions, global spillovers, and the prices of money and energy. This is the tier most professional attention is spent on.
Its neighbourhood
Everything this entry connects to directly. Click any point to follow it.
What moves it
Dials it feeds
This factor is one input to a composite reading on the Analytics page.
Also in Corporate fundamentals
- Aggregate earnings and guidance
- Analyst earnings revisions
- Capital expenditure plans
- Share buybacks
- Dividends and payout policy
- Hyperscaler capex, depreciation, and AI monetisation
- Healthcare cost inflation
- Hyperscaler cloud growth and backlog
- Software seat counts and net revenue retention
- App downloads, time spent, and ad load
- Advertising spend and ad prices
- Patent expirations and loss of exclusivity
- Box office, concert grosses, and ticket prices
- Sports betting handle and casino win
- Senior-living occupancy and care wages
- Death rates and cremation share
- Net equity supply
- Earnings dispersion between AI and non-AI cohorts