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As Consumers Fret, Executives Have Been Talking a Little Less About Inflation – and More About This

March 17, 2025

Earnings Watch: Nike and FedEx report results this week

by Bill Peters
Market Watch

With prices still high and President Donald Trump’s trade war forcing a market retreat, consumer sentiment, by one measure, is at a 29-month low.

But on calls with Wall Street analysts during this fourth-quarter earnings season, executives have been talking about inflation a little less — and more about artificial intelligence.

According to a FactSet analysis of the past three months of S&P 500 corporate earnings calls, 230 companies mentioned “inflation” on those calls. While that’s still elevated relative to the past decade, it’s below the number of companies that called out the topic during fourth-quarter calls for 2023 and 2022, and the second-lowest figure since the second quarter of 2021.

Meanwhile, 241 companies cited “AI” on those calls, according to the FactSet analysis, which was published Friday. That’s the highest number tracked in the past 10 years.

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