Q3 Earnings Season: The Trading Event Traders Can't Ignore

Goldman Sachs strategists led by Ben Snider now project S&P 500 earnings growth slowing to 11% in 2027 and 2028, a shift that transforms the upcoming earnings season into one of the year's most consequential trading events. Corporate profits have been outrunning underlying GDP growth for several quarters, and that gap is central to current bubble-risk debate on trading desks.

As individual reports roll in, expect outsized single-stock moves around results that miss decelerating growth expectations — Novo Nordisk's post-earnings slide, where investors balked at its 2030 targets, is an early signal of how unforgiving this reporting cycle could be.

Traders positioning around earnings dates should watch implied volatility pricing closely; premiums are already elevated as the market braces for a bumpier-than-usual season.