The Fortune 500's Mixed Message on the Economy: High Revenues, Low Profits

The Fortune 500 list for 2022 showed record revenues but plummeting profits, with companies earning $1.56 trillion in profits on $18.1 trillion in revenue. Rising interest rates increased borrowing costs for many companies, while the tech sector saw its profits sink sharply amid the e-commerce slowdown and return to office trend. Economists argue that this is a natural ebbs and flows that occur in earnings during business cycles, and while profits will continue to sink this year, it is not an imminent threat of a recession.