‘Make-or-break quarter’ on Wall Street as earnings roll in

By STAN CHOE
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Big corporations’ eye-popping profit growth is starting to slow, eroding the support that’s kept stock prices high. Companies kicked off earnings reporting season this week, and the forecast is for S&P 500 growth to decelerate to roughly 28% from 90.9% in the second quarter. Stickier-than-expected inflation and a slowdown created by the delta variant are causing growth to flag. For stock prices to maintain their lofty heights profits need to follow, as the expected hike in interest rates could make investors less willing to pay high prices for each $1 of corporate earnings.