The S&P500 overall is expected to record a positive figure. This would make it the best quarter for earnings growth since the January-to-March period of 2022, confirming that companies have left behind the period when inflation eroded profit margins.

In the third quarter, S&P500 firms that should benefit directly from the technology are expected to increase their net income by a whopping 24% compared with the same period of 2023. Of the expected top 10 contributors to earnings growth, six are tech giants, including Meta Platforms, Alphabet, Amazon.com , Micron and Microsoft as well as AI-chip darling Nvidia . The non-AI side of the index is forecast to report income growth of just 1.5%.

Investors also can derive some comfort from valuations, with the non-AI side of the S&P 500 trading at a lower price/earnings ratio.