A robust corporate profits recovery is igniting optimism on Wall Street that US equities will extend their bull run even as investors question whether companies can eclipse a high bar for earnings growth and margins.
The latest quarterly reporting season showed US corporate earnings, revenues and profit margins expanding at their strongest pace since FactSet began tracking these metrics in 2008.
That performance has helped drive US equities to fresh peaks, with the S&P 500 up more than 18 per cent so far this year. The index has roughly doubled from its March 2020 lows, when pandemic lockdowns threw global financial markets into chaos.