Market Cap to Corporate Profits
This ratio divides the market value of all publicly traded US equities (Fed Z.1) by after-tax corporate profits from the national accounts (BEA, CP) — an economy-wide price-to-earnings multiple that sidesteps index composition, buybacks and share-count games. It is the natural counterpart to the Buffett Indicator: same numerator, but scaled by what companies actually earn rather than by GDP.
Equity market value ÷ after-tax profits
- Vs full history
- 21.894th pctile
- Equity value
- $93.61T
- After-tax profits
- $4.30T
Next release: Dec 10, 2026
Latest reading
As of Q2 2026, Cap / Profits (Equity market value ÷ after-tax profits) stands at 21.8× — up from 20.2× the prior reading, 29% below the Q1 2000 record of 30.5×. The long-run median is about 13×; the dot-com peak reached 30×. Because the denominator includes the profits of private and foreign-earning companies, the level works as an index and should never be read as a literal P/E. Its most useful role is as a cross-check: when the Buffett Indicator screams record extremes while this multiple sits well below its 2000 peak, the difference is the historic profit boom — the market is expensive against output but less so against earnings. Which denominator you trust is the whole valuation debate in one chart. Series history runs from 1947 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessFed Z.1 + BEA via FRED (BOGZ1LM883164115Q ÷ CP), quarterly, 1950s+ · Quarterly, with every releaseData as of 2026-04-01 · Open ↓Close ↑
Full history
Methodology & data
Cap / Profits is sourced from Fed/BEA via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (Fed Z.1 + BEA via FRED (BOGZ1LM883164115Q ÷ CP), quarterly, 1950s+). We pull the complete history, chart it on a quarterly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date. Latest observation 2026-04-01; site refreshed 2026-10-09. Maintained and reviewed by Yuriy Matso; see our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Market Cap to Corporate Profits?
This ratio divides the market value of all publicly traded US equities (Fed Z.1) by after-tax corporate profits from the national accounts (BEA, CP) — an economy-wide price-to-earnings multiple that sidesteps index composition, buybacks and share-count games. It is the natural counterpart to the Buffett Indicator: same numerator, but scaled by what companies actually earn rather than by GDP.
How do you read Cap / Profits?
The long-run median is about 13×; the dot-com peak reached 30×. Because the denominator includes the profits of private and foreign-earning companies, the level works as an index and should never be read as a literal P/E. Its most useful role is as a cross-check: when the Buffett Indicator screams record extremes while this multiple sits well below its 2000 peak, the difference is the historic profit boom — the market is expensive against output but less so against earnings. Which denominator you trust is the whole valuation debate in one chart.
Where does the Cap / Profits data come from?
Fed Z.1 + BEA via FRED (BOGZ1LM883164115Q ÷ CP), quarterly, 1950s+. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/market-cap-to-profits.csv.
How often is Cap / Profits updated?
Cap / Profits is a quarterly series from Fed/BEA, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.
Equity market value ÷ after-tax profits
- Vs full history
- 21.894th pctile
- Equity value
- $93.61T
- After-tax profits
- $4.30T
Next release: Dec 10, 2026