According to a note by Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, AI has not improved the bottom line of big companies outside the tech industry. Tracking the S&P 493 (the S&P 500 excluding Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla), he finds profit margins and revenue per worker roughly flat, with no sign AI is boosting productivity. Slok argues it will be hard for corporate America to turn increasingly cheap intelligence into higher revenue growth and margins, since AI does not grasp accountability, trust, culture, unwritten rules or ethical trade-offs. Recent studies have also found AI has yet to deliver significant productivity gains.
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Related tickers and likely impact
NVDA
▼ Likely negativeNvidia
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Semiconductors |
| Market cap | $5.1T |
| Close on 10/23/2026 | 210.96 |
| Change that session | -0.59% |
GOOGL
▼ Likely negativeAlphabet Inc. (Class A)
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $4.0T |
| Close on 10/23/2026 | 320.21 |
| Change that session | -1.24% |
META
▼ Likely negativeMeta Platforms
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $1.7T |
| Close on 10/23/2026 | 642.62 |
| Change that session | -0.96% |
MSFT
▼ Likely negativeMicrosoft
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Systems Software |
| Market cap | $3.9T |
| Close on 10/23/2026 | 524.51 |
| Change that session | +0.66% |
AAPL
• NeutralApple Inc.
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals |
| Market cap | $5.1T |
| Close on 10/23/2026 | 347.73 |
| Change that session | -0.14% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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