Sales growth is at a nearly 5-year high. Here's what's behind the surge.

Energy companies in the S&P 500 are driving a sales surge that could mark the index’s strongest year-over-year revenue growth in years. After most second-quarter results were released, FactSet said the energy sector posted a 42.5% revenue gain—its highest rate among all S&P 500 sectors. That helped push overall S&P 500 revenue growth toward 15% in the second quarter, which would be the strongest pace since Q4 2021, when the U.S. economy reopened from the pandemic. FactSet projects slower growth later: 11.3% in Q3 and 10.9% in Q4. Profit growth is also elevated, influenced by one-off gains tied to major AI-related investments at Amazon and Alphabet.