Corporate America Earnings Beat Back Wall Street’s Wall of Worry

First-quarter earnings season is delivering Wall Street better-than-expected results, propelling US equities’ run from one record to the next.

As earnings wind down for two-thirds of the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, the proportion of companies missing analysts’ estimates is hovering at the lowest level since 2021. It’s not just due to blowout earnings from technology giants, which were expected to lead the charge. S&P 500 companies outside of the tech realm have been posting the sharpest positive earnings surprises since the fourth quarter of 2024, according to Seaport Research Partners.

For Wall Street investors, that’s a vote of ...