Investors View Corporate Earnings Season as Next Test for Stocks

This week’s kickoff to the corporate earnings season offers the next trial for the market as investors consider whether U.S. stocks can hold on to recent gains in the face of deteriorating profits.

Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 to report a second consecutive decline in quarterly earnings. First-quarter profits are projected to drop 6.8% from the same period a year earlier, according to FactSet. That would mark the steepest earnings decline since the second quarter of 2020, when the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a 32% profit contraction.