Business Insider: "Companies have never been more obsessed with artificial intelligence"

The proportion of companies in the S&P 500 index that mention artificial intelligence in the reports related to the fourth quarter of last year reached an all-time high of 36%, according to analysts from Goldman Sachs, writes Business Insider.

This, after in the third quarter mentions of artificial intelligence in reports had a small decline, the American publication also mentions.

In addition to tech giants such as Microsoft and Apple, which are obviously concerned with AI, other companies outside the field, such as ank of New York Mellon and UnitedHealth Group, have mentioned in reports that they expect the technology to increase productivity, reduce costs and improve products.

Google and Advanced Micro Devices reported growth for AI-based goods and services, while executives from Meta, General Motors, Automatic Data Processing and Franklin Resources cited the need for further investment in AI.

"The increase in mentions related to AI reflects the enthusiasm for the technology," say the bank's analysts. According to the report, companies in the energy sector saw the strongest increase in AI mentions, while real estate firms saw the biggest decline.

"Share prices have reflected this management enthusiasm, with a basket of companies pursuing or facilitating AI technology outperforming the equal-weighted S&P 500 by 19 percentage points year-to-date," Goldman analysts wrote .

Shares of popular names in the AI industry such as Nvidia, TSMC, Arm and SoundHound rose in unison in 2024.

By and large, profits for companies in the S&P 500 beat expectations. By the middle of last week, companies equivalent to 80% of the entire index's valuation had reported their results, with 58% beating analysts' estimates by at least one standard deviation, according to Goldman Sachs. For this reporting season, estimated earnings per share growth is 7% from the same quarter last year.

As for artificial intelligence, Goldman economists predict investment in the field will approach $100 billion in the United States by 2025, according to Business Insider.