Apollo Chief Economist: Beyond the Magnificent Seven, AI Hasn't Yet Helped US Companies Make Real Money
Apollo Global Management's chief economist points out that, excluding the Magnificent Seven, the remaining S&P 500 constituents have seen essentially flat profit margins and revenue per employee, indicating that AI has not yet delivered meaningful profit growth for companies.
Key Takeaways
- Key Highlight：Apollo Global Management's chief economist points out that, excluding the Magnificent Seven, the remaining S&P 500 constituents have seen essentially flat profit margins and revenue per employee, indicating that AI has not yet delivered meaningful profit growth for companies.
- Innovation & Tech：Highlights advancements in Apollo, Chief, Economist, demonstrating rapid progress in model capabilities.
- Industry Impact：Reported via IT之家 (CN), offering actionable signals for developers and technology leaders.
Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok published a research report examining 493 S&P 500 constituents after excluding seven tech giants—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Tesla. He found that these companies' profit margins and revenue per employee have remained essentially flat, with no quantifiable profit improvement attributable to AI.
This conclusion is significant because it directly addresses widespread market skepticism about AI's return on investment. Over the past two years, corporate AI spending has surged, yet most companies have not reflected notable efficiency or revenue improvements in their earnings reports, suggesting that AI's commercial deployment is still in its early stages.
The Magnificent Seven were excluded separately because they are both the primary builders of AI infrastructure and the main beneficiaries of AI products, making the causal link between their profit growth and AI investment more direct. For companies in traditional industries, adopting AI has more often resulted in increased costs rather than revenue gains in the short term.
This perspective has implications for investment logic across the AI value chain: the market may need more time before seeing AI's substantive contribution to profitability in non-tech industries, and the path to realizing returns on corporate AI investments remains to be observed.
This page provides an editorial summary based on publicly available information. It is not a republished article. Use the source link below for the original report.
Industry Insights & Analysis
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