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“Recession was uttered just 16 times so far on earnings calls this quarter (4%), down from 124 in Q1 and the 10-yr average of 61. After Q4 ’24 it was the least of any quarter since Q4 ’21,” Neil Sethi, managing partner at Sethi Associates, said<\/a> on X, quoting FactSet. <\/p>\n The decline comes as some observers fear that President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs are beginning to impact the economy.<\/p>\n Perhaps company leaders are operating under the assumption that the elevated tariffs will eventually be “watered down” through negotiations, rather than remaining a long-term economic burden.<\/p>\n Recession mentions in quarterly earnings calls of rthe S&P 500 firms. (FactSet) <\/p>\n Trump recently unveiled sweeping tariffs in addition to those announced in April in a move aimed at sparking a manufacturing boom. That has lifted the average U.S. tariff rate to 20.1%, the highest sustained level since the 1910s, according to estimates released by the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n Markets, too, have largely looked past tariff-induced recession fears, with the S&P 500 rising 28% since the early April dip. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, has risen to $122,000 from roughly $75,000, a 62% surge in four months, CoinDesk data show. <\/p>\n According to JPMorgan, traders have been focusing on resilient corporate earnings and the expected economic recovery following the interim slowdown.<\/p>\n More than 80% of S&P 500 companies have recently reported their second-quarter earnings, with over 80% beating earnings expectations and 79% surpassing revenue forecasts. That’s the strongest performance in four years.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n