S&P 500 firms added $271B in earnings adjustments, Calcbench says

S&P 500 companies reported adjusted net income that was $271 billion higher than GAAP net income in 2025, according to a study released Thursday by Calcbench and Suffolk University's Sawyer Business School. The report found that 361 of the index's members, or about 72%, adjusted their earnings figures for fiscal 2025.

Eighty-seven percent of those firms posted adjusted net income above the GAAP figure. Some companies saw a much wider gap. AbbVie, Broadcom, Capital One, General Motors, and Pfizer all reported adjusted net income that was multiple times their GAAP net income. Those adjustments alone accounted for a material share of the $271 billion total, the study said.

The report highlighted a sharp swing in how companies treat investment gains and losses. In 2025, firms removed a net $7.9 billion in investment gains from their adjusted income figures. That was a $33.5 billion reversal from 2024, when they added $26.5 billion in gains.

Pranav Ghai, co-founder and CEO of Calcbench, said in a statement that the removal of investment gains and losses raises questions about the size of corporate investment portfolios. He added that analysts and investors still need to assess whether non-GAAP adjustments provide a clearer picture of earnings.

Tracey Riley, interim dean of Suffolk University's Sawyer Business School, said that analyzing non-GAAP numbers remains a critical part of understanding management's view of company performance, regardless of whether the adjustments are justified.

This is the fifth year Calcbench and Suffolk have collaborated on the report. The data came from SEC filings and was collected and reviewed by students across multiple courses at the business school.