American corporations just posted their best quarter in a very long time. Profits from current production jumped $400.9 billion in Q2 2026, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data released on August 26. That’s more than five times the $74.4 billion gain from the prior quarter.
The result: after-tax profits as a share of gross value added reached 19.4%, up from 18.2% in Q1. That’s the highest level on record since the data series began in the 1940s.
The numbers behind the surge
Total corporate profits, adjusted for inventory valuation and capital consumption, hit $4,827 billion on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis in Q2. That’s roughly 9% higher than the $4,426 billion recorded in Q1.
The BEA data landed alongside a broader picture of economic resilience. Real GDP grew at a 1.5% annualized rate in the second estimate. Nonresidential fixed investment expanded at an 8.5% annualized pace.
