Artificial intelligence has become a near-default talking point for corporate America. A FactSet analysis covering June 15 through September 14 found that 331 of 493 S&P 500 earnings calls mentioned the technology, meaning 67% of the country's largest public companies addressed it this quarter. It marked the third consecutive quarter in which AI mentions exceeded the 65% threshold. The remaining 162 companies — roughly one in three — did not mention it at all.

The numbers behind the AI emphasis

The current figures stand well above historical norms. The five-year average for AI mentions in S&P 500 earnings calls sits at 178, while the ten-year average is just 114. At 331, the current quarter nearly doubles the five-year norm and triples the decade-long average. That gap illustrates how quickly the topic has moved from an occasional talking point to a standard feature of how the country's largest companies communicate with investors.

The previous quarter, Q1 2026, actually recorded slightly more mentions, at 337. Both of the last two quarters sit far above either historical average.

The sector breakdown tells a predictable story with a few surprises. Information Technology led with 72 calls mentioning AI, equivalent to 97% of the sector. Financials followed with 67 mentions, covering 91% of the sector, and Communication Services hit 90% to round out the top three. Put another way, AI is now a standing topic for the overwhelming majority of large-cap companies across those three sectors.

The more notable data point lies in the stock performance gap. Companies that mentioned AI during their earnings calls posted an average price gain of 15.7% from December 31, 2025, through September 17, 2026, while companies that stayed silent on the topic managed 8.1% — a 7.6-percentage-point spread — over the same window. The figures describe what happened across that specific period; on their own, they do not establish that the mentions drove the difference in returns.

From boardroom buzzword to balance sheet

Goldman Sachs estimates that AI investments contributed nearly half of S&P 500 earnings-per-share growth in 2026. The bank had previously flagged that around 65% of management teams were referencing AI, a figure the latest FactSet data now shows has ticked up to 67%. The figures tie the technology directly to reported earnings rather than executive commentary alone. In other words, the rise in mentions coincides with a period in which AI spending is a measurable driver of the index's earnings.

A market increasingly concentrated around one theme

The slight dip in Q2 mentions, from Q1's 337 to 331, could signal that the raw mention count has plateaued. For the broader market, Goldman Sachs' estimate that AI accounted for nearly half of S&P 500 EPS growth means the index's performance is increasingly concentrated around a single technological thesis. The next FactSet tally will show whether mentions hold above the 65% threshold for a fourth consecutive quarter, and future measurement windows will indicate whether the gap between companies that discuss AI and those that stay silent widens, narrows, or holds.