AI The huge gap behind the boom: Profit margins of the Magnificent Seven tech companies are rising, while the remaining 493 US companies have largely stood still overall

AT A GLANCE

Apollo's Chief Economist said that AI financial returns are concentrated primarily in the Magnificent Seven tech companies, while improvement among other major US companies remains unclear.

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Dongcha Beating Newsflash,AI Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Sløk released charts, arguing that AI has so far failed to deliver meaningful financial returns for major US companies outside the tech giants.

Revenue per employee and profit margins at the Magnificent Seven tech companies continue to rise, but for the S&P 493 companies excluding them, both metrics have largely remained flat overall. US total factor productivity data likewise show no clear signs of being boosted by AI.

Citing data from corporate payments platform Ramp, Apollo found that among the platform's customers, the highest-spending 10%companies accounted for 99.5%of model hosting and inference expenses.AI Among the highest-spending 1%companies, approximately 80%had venture capital backing, compared with only 13%among companies with median spending. A large share of AI computing consumption is concentrated among a small number of companies, many of which rely on venture capital support.

Corporate earnings reports also make it difficult to establish how much value AI has actually created. Apollo previously calculated that during the 2026 second-quarter earnings season, 500 S&P 69%companies disclosed that they were actually using AI, but only 2%disclosed metrics for continuously tracking results. Another October study updated this year NBER surveyed nearly 9000 corporate executives across countries. Respondents estimated that over the past 3 years,AI increased annual corporate labor-productivity growth by only about 0.2 percentage points.AI can help employees write code, prepare reports, and process emails faster, but producing more does not necessarily mean generating more revenue.

Original link https://m.theblockbeats.info/flash/373895

Key points

Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Sløk released charts, arguing that AI has so far failed to deliver meaningful financial returns for major US companies outside the tech giants.
The article states that revenue per employee and profit margins at the Magnificent Seven tech companies continue to rise, while both metrics for S&P 493 companies excluding them have largely remained flat overall.
The article states that US total factor productivity data show no clear signs of being boosted by AI.
Citing Ramp data, Apollo said that among the platform's customers, the highest-spending 10%companies accounted for 99.5%of model hosting and inference expenses.
The article states that approximately AI of the highest-spending 1%companies 80%had venture capital backing, compared with this share among median-spending companies of 13%。
Apollo previously calculated that during the 2026 second-quarter earnings season, among S&P 500 companies, 69%disclosed that they were actually using AI, but only 2%disclosed metrics for continuously tracking results.
The article mentions that a October study updated this year NBER surveyed nearly 9000 corporate executives across countries; respondents estimated that over the past 3 years,AI increased annual corporate labor-productivity growth by approximately 0.2 percentage points.

AI-assisted interpretation

The following is analysis, separate from reported facts. Verify important claims independently.

The material seeks to convey that the revenue efficiency and profit margins of a small number of large technology companies are improving, but this improvement has not yet become widespread among other large US companies. Although companies have begun adopting AI and have also incurred hosting and inference expenses, few disclose metrics demonstrating sustainable results. Writing code, preparing reports, or processing emails faster are efficiency gains that do not necessarily translate directly into more revenue.

Why it matters to readers

These data relate to whether companies'AI investments can translate into measurable improvements in revenue, profit, or productivity, and also reflect whether AI spending is concentrated only among a small number of well-funded companies.

Beginners can distinguish among “using AI,” “increasing work speed,” and “obtaining financial returns”: the are not equivalent. When reviewing corporate disclosures, focus on revenue growth, cost savings, profit margins, and continuously tracked productivity metrics, rather than merely whether it has been adopted.AI。

Risks and unknowns

The material is a Chinese-language summary of information and is not accompanied by the original links to the five Apollo charts, Ramp data, or NBER the study, so the statistical basis cannot be directly verified.
The specific list of companies comprising the “Magnificent Seven” was not provided in the original text.

AI The huge gap behind the boom: Profit margins of the Magnificent Seven tech companies are rising, while the remaining 493 US companies have largely stood still overall

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