Profits Are About as Good as They’ll Get

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, November 6, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

Tech equities recovered in premarket trading on November 6, 2026, after a sharp decline the previous day, with semiconductor and data center power firms leading the advance. DraftKings shares dropped after the firm lowered its financial guidance due to increasing expenses in its prediction-markets division, while Airbnb stock climbed more than 10% following an upward revision to its outlook based on robust third-quarter demand. Market indicators suggested a rebound at the open, with the most heavily impacted stocks showing the strongest improvement.

Background

• FactSet data indicates that S&P 500 profit margins reached all-time highs in the second quarter, driven by reduced worker compensation shares and lower corporate tax rates.
• J.P. Morgan Asset Management strategist David Kelly observed that the effective corporate tax rate has fallen by 10 percentage points compared to the 1985–1994 average, boosting net profits.
• Analyst forecasts suggest continued margin expansion for the S&P 500 through 2028, despite potential short-term pressure from accounting treatments of AI-related capital expenditures.
• Reports indicate growing investor doubt regarding Anthropic’s ability to sustain a $1.5 trillion valuation, while hedge funds have trimmed positions and headcount amid the market downturn.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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