AI BENEFITS NOW VISIBLE IN CORPORATE EARNINGS

According to Michelle Weaver, head of US thematic research at Morgan Stanley, about 25% of S&P 500 companies are quantifying AI benefits, up from 14% a year ago. The milestone marks a critical inflection point for enterprise AI adoption. Companies deploying AI are already showing relative forward margin expansion—a key indicator that investments are translating into bottom-line improvements. "You're starting to see this come into the fundamentals," Weaver told Bloomberg on August 27, 2026. The data suggests corporate AI spending is finally delivering measurable returns after years of large-scale investments with uncertain payoffs. As more companies move beyond pilots and proofs-of-concept into scaled operations, financial results are becoming visible in quarterly reports and guidance. This trend could reshape investor expectations around AI spending and valuations heading forward, particularly for companies that have bet heavily on AI infrastructure and integration.