Second quarter earnings season is coming to a close, and with nearly all of the reports in, the results have been mostly positive. As of Sept. 5, 99% of S&P 500 index companies have reported results, according to FactSet data, and analysts expect S&P 500 companies to report a 12% jump in earnings per share during the second quarter. Companies had lower expectations to clear coming into the quarter — analysts expected S&P 500 earnings to rise 5% in Q2, the slowest pace of earnings growth since Q4 2023 — a ...