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How Many Companies Talk About AI on Earnings Calls?

Every quarter since late 2023, counted from S&P 500 earnings‑call transcripts: how many calls mention AI, AI agents and data centers, which companies talk about it most, and how tariff, recession and rate talk rose and faded.

Reviewed by:David, Senior AnalystPublished Oct 22, 2026Updated Oct 22, 20266 min readHow we research

Key takeaways

72.7% of S&P 500 earnings calls in Q3 2026 mentioned AI, up from 41.9% in Q4 2023 (455 calls; earnings‑call transcripts, Exent data as of Oct 20, 2026).
The average call in Q3 2026 mentioned AI 12.9 times, against 6.5 in Q4 2023.
AI agents came up on 24.4% of calls in Q3 2026, from 1.0% in Q4 2023; data centers on 42.9%.
Tariff talk peaked in Q2 2025, when 90.5% of calls mentioned tariffs; by Q3 2026 it was 36.0%. Recession came up on 2.6% of calls (peak 27.4% in Q2 2025).
ServiceNow (NOW) mentioned AI the most in Q3 2026: 120 times on one call (Jul 22, 2026).

In this article

How many companies talk about AI on earnings calls?
How has AI talk on earnings calls changed since 2023?
What else do companies talk about on earnings calls?
How often do companies mention tariffs and recession?
Which companies mention AI the most on earnings calls?
What does AI talk on earnings calls tell investors?
Method and caveats

How many companies talk about AI on earnings calls?

72.7% of the S&P 500 companies that held an earnings call in Q3 2026 mentioned AI, about 331 of 455 calls. In Q4 2023, the first quarter in the data, it was 41.9%. For most large companies AI is now a standing topic, not a special announcement; what changes from quarter to quarter is how much time they spend on it: 12.9 mentions per call on average in Q3 2026.

Share of S&P 500 earnings calls that mention AI

By calendar quarter of the call, last 8 quarters; the table below has every quarter in the data.

5%50%

Q4 ’24

8%58%

Q1 ’25

10%51%

Q2 ’25

15%67%

Q3 ’25

19%69%

Q4 ’25

20%73%

Q1 ’26

24%71%

Q2 ’26

24%73%

Q3 ’26

How has AI talk on earnings calls changed since 2023?

The share of calls mentioning AI went from 41.9% in Q4 2023 to 72.7% in Q3 2026, and mentions per call from 6.5 to 12.9. AI agents are the newer theme: 1.0% of calls in Q4 2023, 24.4% in Q3 2026. Each quarter is the calendar quarter of the call, so a call in July usually reports April to June results.

Quarter	Calls	Mentioned AI	Mentioned AI agents	AI mentions per call
Q3 2026	455	72.7%	24.4%	12.9
Q2 2026	450	71.3%	24.4%	13.5
Q1 2026	455	73.0%	20.4%	12.8
Q4 2025	454	68.5%	18.5%	11.1
Q3 2025	455	67.3%	15.2%	9.6
Q2 2025	453	50.6%	10.4%	6.5
Q1 2025	444	58.3%	8.3%	7.8
Q4 2024	459	50.3%	4.6%	6.6
Q3 2024	456	51.3%	1.8%	7.4
Q2 2024	435	49.9%	0.5%	7.9
Q1 2024	479	47.6%	0.8%	7.1
Q4 2023	403	41.9%	1.0%	6.5

Q3 2026
Calls
455
Mentioned AI
72.7%
Mentioned AI agents
24.4%
AI mentions per call
12.9
Q2 2026
Calls
450
Mentioned AI
71.3%
Mentioned AI agents
24.4%
AI mentions per call
13.5
Q1 2026
Calls
455
Mentioned AI
73.0%
Mentioned AI agents
20.4%
AI mentions per call
12.8
Q4 2025
Calls
454
Mentioned AI
68.5%
Mentioned AI agents
18.5%
AI mentions per call
11.1
Q3 2025
Calls
455
Mentioned AI
67.3%
Mentioned AI agents
15.2%
AI mentions per call
9.6
Q2 2025
Calls
453
Mentioned AI
50.6%
Mentioned AI agents
10.4%
AI mentions per call
6.5
Q1 2025
Calls
444
Mentioned AI
58.3%
Mentioned AI agents
8.3%
AI mentions per call
7.8
Q4 2024
Calls
459
Mentioned AI
50.3%
Mentioned AI agents
4.6%
AI mentions per call
6.6
Q3 2024
Calls
456
Mentioned AI
51.3%
Mentioned AI agents
1.8%
AI mentions per call
7.4
Q2 2024
Calls
435
Mentioned AI
49.9%
Mentioned AI agents
0.5%
AI mentions per call
7.9
Q1 2024
Calls
479
Mentioned AI
47.6%
Mentioned AI agents
0.8%
AI mentions per call
7.1
Q4 2023
Calls
403
Mentioned AI
41.9%
Mentioned AI agents
1.0%
AI mentions per call
6.5

What else do companies talk about on earnings calls?

After AI, the most common topics in Q3 2026 were inflation (48.1% of calls), data centers (42.9%) and tariffs (36.0%). The table compares the latest quarter with a year earlier and shows each topic’s peak quarter in the data.

Topic	Share of calls, Q3 2026	A year earlier (Q3 2025)	Peak quarter
AI	72.7%	67.3%	Q1 2026 (73%)
AI agents	24.4%	15.2%	Q2 2026 (24%)
Data centers	42.9%	32.1%	Q3 2026 (43%)
Tariffs	36.0%	71.6%	Q2 2025 (91%)
Recession	2.6%	5.9%	Q2 2025 (27%)
China	26.4%	36.9%	Q2 2025 (53%)
Inflation	48.1%	38.2%	Q1 2024 (61%)
Interest rates	20.4%	27.9%	Q4 2023 (52%)

How often do companies mention tariffs and recession?

Tariffs peaked at 90.5% of calls in Q2 2025 and were down to 36.0% in Q3 2026; in Q4 2023 only 3.0% of calls mentioned them. Recession talk spiked at the same time (27.4% in Q2 2025) and faded to 2.6%. The calls with the most tariff mentions came mostly from industrials and consumer cyclical companies. See tariffs and stocks and which US companies make the most money in China.

Share of S&P 500 earnings calls that mention tariffs and recession

By calendar quarter of the call, last 8 quarters.

5%19%

Q4 ’24

5%55%

Q1 ’25

27%91%

Q2 ’25

6%72%

Q3 ’25

5%53%

Q4 ’25

4%45%

Q1 ’26

5%36%

Q2 ’26

3%36%

Q3 ’26

The calls with the most tariff mentions in Q3 2026:

Company	Tariff mentions on the call	Call date	Sector
Dollar Tree (DLTR)	57	Aug 27, 2026	Consumer Defensive
Stanley Black & Decker (SWK)	46	Jul 29, 2026	Industrials
Masco (MAS)	39	Jul 29, 2026	Basic Materials
Williams-Sonoma (WSM)	36	Aug 26, 2026	Consumer Cyclical
Caterpillar (CAT)	30	Aug 4, 2026	Industrials
W.W. Grainger (GWW)	29	Aug 4, 2026	Industrials
Deckers Outdoor (DECK)	25	Jul 23, 2026	Consumer Cyclical
Cardinal Health (CAH)	22	Aug 11, 2026	Healthcare
Baxter International (BAX)	22	Jul 30, 2026	Healthcare
Generac (GNRC)	22	Jul 29, 2026	Industrials

Which companies mention AI the most on earnings calls?

ServiceNow (NOW) led Q3 2026 with 120 AI mentions on one call. 13 of the top 15 are technology companies. A high count shows what management wants investors to hear; it does not measure how much AI adds to revenue.

Company	AI mentions on the call	Call date	Sector
ServiceNow (NOW)	120	Jul 22, 2026	Technology
F5 (FFIV)	120	Jul 27, 2026	Technology
Datadog (DDOG)	114	Aug 6, 2026	Technology
Equifax (EFX)	109	Jul 21, 2026	Industrials
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)	103	Sep 2, 2026	Technology
Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH)	102	Jul 29, 2026	Technology
Workday (WDAY)	101	Aug 27, 2026	Technology
HP (HPQ)	88	Aug 26, 2026	Technology
Alphabet (GOOGL)	81	Jul 22, 2026	Communication Services
Palo Alto Networks (PANW)	80	Sep 1, 2026	Technology
CrowdStrike (CRWD)	80	Aug 26, 2026	Technology
NVIDIA (NVDA)	76	Aug 26, 2026	Technology
PTC (PTC)	72	Jul 29, 2026	Technology
Oracle (ORCL)	70	Sep 10, 2026	Technology
CDW (CDW)	69	Aug 5, 2026	Technology

What does AI talk on earnings calls tell investors?

It tells you what is on management’s mind, and what they expect analysts to ask about. It does not tell you who is making money from AI. A software company can mention AI a hundred times while AI is a small part of its sales, and a chip or power company can earn heavily from data centers with fewer mentions. Rising mentions across a whole market can also be a sign of a crowded theme: see are we in a bubble and what an AI selloff would do to a portfolio.

Topic counts work best as a gauge of the macro mood: tariffs and recession both peaked in Q2 2025, after the April 2025 tariff shock, then faded as companies adjusted. For how the market itself reads that mood each day, see is the market risk‑on or risk‑off.

Method and caveats

Source: earnings‑call transcripts of S&P 500 companies (up to the last 12 calls per company), counted by Exent; data as of Oct 20, 2026.
Quarter = calendar quarter of the call date (January to March = Q1); quarters with fewer than 100 calls are left out, and the earliest quarter covers fewer companies.
Share of calls = calls that mention the term at least once; mentions per call = the average count across all calls. Prepared remarks and Q&A are counted together.
Terms: AI (“AI”, “GenAI”, “artificial intelligence”, “generative”, “large language model”, “LLM”), AI agents (“agentic”, “AI agent”), data centers, tariffs, recession, China / Chinese, inflation, “interest rates”.
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Historical figures are calculated by Exent from market data and are for education only; they are not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

How Exent reads the macro mood for you

Exent Predictive Market Intelligence publishes a daily macro regime score (Risk ON, Neutral or Risk OFF) from four pillars: liquidity, credit stress, the economic cycle and sentiment.
A daily macro briefing with cited sources puts themes like AI spending and tariffs in context, and members get an alert when the regime changes.
Six model allocations show how exposure can follow the regime, from fully invested or in cash to a 2× model that uses leverage only in Risk ON.

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Frequently asked questions

72.7% of S&P 500 earnings calls held in Q3 2026 mentioned AI at least once (about 331 of 455 calls), with 12.9 mentions per call on average. Exent data from call transcripts, as of Oct 20, 2026.

Over a year, yes: 72.7% of calls mentioned AI in Q3 2026 against 67.3% in Q3 2025. Against the quarter before (Q2 2026, 71.3%) it was up. Mentions per call: 12.9 against 9.6 a year earlier.

In Q3 2026: ServiceNow (NOW) (120), F5 (FFIV) (120), Datadog (DDOG) (114), Equifax (EFX) (109) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) (103) mentions on a single call. 13 of the top 15 are technology companies.

36.0% of S&P 500 calls in Q3 2026 mentioned tariffs; the peak was 90.5% in Q2 2025. Dollar Tree (DLTR) mentioned them most in the latest quarter (57 times).

Few: 2.6% of S&P 500 calls in Q3 2026, against a peak of 27.4% in Q2 2025. Inflation (48.1%) and interest rates (20.4%) came up more often.

Any of “AI”, “GenAI”, “artificial intelligence”, “generative”, “large language model” or “LLM” in the call transcript, prepared remarks and Q&A together. A call counts once in the share, however many times AI comes up; the per‑call average counts every mention.

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Key takeaways

Share of S&P 500 earnings calls that mention AI

Share of S&P 500 earnings calls that mention tariffs and recession

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