Today’s weekly market commentary returns to one of our favorite investment topics – Artificial Intelligence. It is clear, even through our own personal lives as consumers, that Artificial Intelligence is being widely adopted. In terms of Corporate America and publicly traded companies, Artificial Intelligence is also being widely adopted and is no longer simply a talking point. The attached piece outlines the case that Artificial Intelligence is no longer a buzzword and also outlines what this potentially means for investors.
The enclosed chart measures the number of companies within the S&P 500 Index which mention Artificial Intelligence in their quarterly earnings calls. The chart begins with earnings calls in Q1 2017 and runs through earnings calls in Q4 2025. It can be seen that in Q1 2017 earnings calls, there were only (approximately) 25 companies which cited Artificial Intelligence. Fast forward to the Q4 2025 earnings calls – there were 331 companies that cited Artificial Intelligence. As the piece explains, “a record 331 S&P 500 companies cited AI on their fourth-quarter 2025 earnings calls, representing 68% of all calls conducted during the period. That figure is 33% higher than a year ago and has risen 4x over the past three years since the advent of ChatGPT – a dramatic acceleration in how broadly AI has entered corporate strategy discussions.” – AOM470
Beyond communicating financial performance, a quarterly earnings call for a publicly traded company is an opportunity to provide business context and narrative. It allows management to outline the priorities and outlook for their respective companies. And when the majority of S&P 500 companies are not only citing a specific technology but actively outlining how that technology is enhancing their business, it is fair to say it is no longer a talking point.
In terms of what this means for investors, as the piece states in the close is, “companies enabling or successfully adopting AI into their operations may be well positioned to benefit from this shift. The market data supports that view: according to FactSet, S&P 500 companies citing AI on earnings calls have seen average price appreciation more than double that of non-citers from March 31, 2025 through March 10, 2026. With the AI infrastructure buildout spanning semiconductors, data centers, and networking continuing to attract capital at a historic pace, we believe the investment case for AI is strengthening as the technology moves from experimentation to execution.” – AOM470
We would ask that you review the attached piece at your convenience and please let us know if you have any questions or if you would like to discuss it further. And as we always end this correspondence, please remember that regardless of current momentum and regardless of the key takeaways in this weekly perspective, we will continue to monitor and manage with a thoughtful approach based on your specific long-term objectives. Thank you for your continued confidence and look forward to speaking soon.
