Summary
Far less than a year ago, and most of what is left comes from calls about tariff refunds. Tariffs came up on 89.0% of S&P 500 earnings calls held from April to June 2025, when the average call mentioned them 12.62 times. On calls held from July to September 2026, 32.7% mentioned tariffs and the average was 2.56 mentions, a fall of 79.7%.
The talk has not gone back to where it was before 2025. In 2024, between 4.7% and 17.1% of calls mentioned tariffs in any quarter, so the latest share is still about twice the late-2024 level.
What changed is the subject. In calls held from July to September 2026, the phrase "tariff refund" or "tariff refunds" was said 388 times on 72 calls, against three times in all of 2025. The 82 calls on which a speaker discussed tariffs and refunds together produced 80.5% of all tariff mentions that quarter. On the other 368 calls, tariffs averaged 0.61 mentions a call.
Tariff talk now sits with retailers, toolmakers and distributors. Dollar Tree, Stanley Black & Decker, Williams-Sonoma, Masco and Caterpillar led the most recent quarter, while banks, real estate companies, energy producers and materials companies have almost stopped mentioning tariffs at all. Among the 45 companies that reported in October 2026 and had a call a year earlier to compare with, tariff mentions were down 82%.
Abstract
We count the words "tariff" and "tariffs" on 4,952 earnings calls held by 464 current S&P 500 companies from 5 January 2024 to 22 October 2026, using the speaker-by-speaker transcripts in the Equibles earnings call archive. Utilities are reported separately because they use "tariff" for the regulated rate schedules they charge customers. Calls are grouped by the calendar quarter in which they were held.
The share of calls mentioning tariffs rose from 4.7% in January to March 2024 to a peak of 89.0% in April to June 2025, then fell in every quarter to 32.7% in July to September 2026. Mentions per call peaked at 12.62 and stood at 2.56 in the latest full quarter. Of the 433 companies that mentioned tariffs at least once, 310 did so most often on their April to June 2025 call. In July to September 2026, 82 of the 147 calls that mentioned tariffs also discussed refunds in the same speaker turn, and those 82 calls produced 927 of the quarter's 1,152 mentions.
How tariff talk rose and fell
The first wave of mentions arrived in calls held from January to March 2025, when 52.3% of calls mentioned tariffs. The peak came a quarter later, with nearly nine in ten calls discussing them and the median call mentioning them eight times. The share of calls mentioning tariffs has fallen in every quarter since.
| Calls held in | Calls | Calls mentioning tariffs | Share | Mentions per call | Median | Per 10,000 words | Total mentions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January to March 2024 | 447 | 21 | 4.7% | 0.34 | 0 | 0.44 | 152 |
| April to June 2024 | 451 | 22 | 4.9% | 0.59 | 0 | 0.82 | 266 |
| July to September 2024 | 457 | 41 | 9.0% | 0.58 | 0 | 0.77 | 264 |
| October to December 2024 | 457 | 78 | 17.1% | 0.82 | 0 | 1.10 | 373 |
| January to March 2025 | 447 | 234 | 52.3% | 2.92 | 1 | 3.63 | 1,307 |
| April to June 2025 | 444 | 395 | 89.0% | 12.62 | 8 | 15.78 | 5,605 |
| July to September 2025 | 437 | 308 | 70.5% | 6.58 | 3 | 8.42 | 2,874 |
| October to December 2025 | 432 | 221 | 51.2% | 3.82 | 1 | 4.78 | 1,651 |
| January to March 2026 | 443 | 188 | 42.4% | 2.80 | 0 | 3.17 | 1,242 |
| April to June 2026 | 441 | 153 | 34.7% | 2.26 | 0 | 2.63 | 996 |
| July to September 2026 | 450 | 147 | 32.7% | 2.56 | 0 | 2.93 | 1,152 |
| October 2026, to 22 October | 46 | 9 | 19.6% | 0.78 | 0 | 0.87 | 36 |
The latest full quarter is the first since the peak in which mentions per call went up, from 2.26 to 2.56, while the share of calls mentioning tariffs kept falling. The rise comes from a smaller group of companies talking about tariffs at length, and the next section shows what they were talking about.
The peak was nearly universal. Of the 433 companies that mentioned tariffs at least once in the period, 310 did so most often on their April to June 2025 call. Of the 121 companies that reached 20 or more mentions on a single call, 50 were down to two or fewer on their most recent call and 36 did not mention tariffs at all.
What tariff talk is about now: refunds
Mentions of the Supreme Court alongside tariffs, in the same speaker turn, appeared on one or two calls a quarter in 2025. They rose to 17 calls in January to March 2026 and 20 in April to June 2026. Refunds followed. In April to June 2026, "tariff refund" or "tariff refunds" was said 39 times on 24 calls. In July to September 2026 it was said 388 times on 72 calls.
| Calls held in | Calls discussing tariffs and refunds | Calls saying "tariff refund(s)" | "Tariff refund(s)" mentions | Calls mentioning the Supreme Court with tariffs | Calls mentioning IEEPA with tariffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January to March 2025 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| April to June 2025 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| July to September 2025 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| October to December 2025 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| January to March 2026 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 8 |
| April to June 2026 | 45 | 24 | 39 | 20 | 39 |
| July to September 2026 | 82 | 72 | 388 | 1 | 36 |
IEEPA is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The count includes the spellings that speech recognition produces for it, such as "IEPA".
In July to September 2026, 147 calls mentioned tariffs, and on 82 of them a speaker discussed tariffs and refunds in the same turn. Those 82 calls produced 927 of the quarter's 1,152 tariff mentions. The other 368 calls produced 225 mentions between them.
"Let me turn to tariffs and the tariff refunds we received during the quarter." Dollar Tree, earnings call, 27 August 2026
General Motors, which mentioned tariffs 35 times on its October 2025 call and 8 times on its October 2026 call, said on 20 October that it had incurred about $1.8 billion of tariff costs so far in 2026, net of the IEEPA reversal benefit, and expected gross tariff costs for the year at the low end of its $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion range. On the same call, "commodity" and "commodities" came up 16 times, against no more than three a call from January 2024 to January 2026.
Which sectors still talk about tariffs
Every sector peaked in April to June 2025. In the latest quarter, consumer staples retailers, industrials and consumer discretionary companies still mentioned tariffs on more than half of their calls. Financial services, real estate, energy and basic materials companies mentioned them on between 4% and 26% of calls, and less than once every two calls on average.
| Sector | Calls, April to June 2025 | Mentions per call | Share mentioning | Calls, July to September 2026 | Mentions per call | Share mentioning | Change in mentions per call |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Defensive | 29 | 14.7 | 97% | 31 | 5.9 | 58% | -60% |
| Industrials | 73 | 21.6 | 99% | 73 | 5.4 | 52% | -75% |
| Consumer Cyclical | 49 | 13.8 | 86% | 51 | 4.8 | 55% | -65% |
| Healthcare | 58 | 17.2 | 95% | 57 | 2.9 | 42% | -83% |
| Technology | 82 | 11.9 | 83% | 83 | 1.4 | 20% | -88% |
| Communication Services | 18 | 4.1 | 67% | 19 | 0.5 | 11% | -88% |
| Basic Materials | 19 | 12.0 | 100% | 19 | 0.4 | 26% | -96% |
| Energy | 20 | 7.2 | 70% | 21 | 0.3 | 24% | -95% |
| Financial Services | 66 | 5.2 | 85% | 68 | 0.2 | 13% | -96% |
| Real Estate | 30 | 5.6 | 97% | 27 | 0.1 | 4% | -98% |
The companies that still talk about tariffs most are the ones that import finished goods or sell them on to consumers and contractors. These are the 16 calls held from July to September 2026 with 20 or more tariff mentions, and on 15 of them a speaker also said "tariff refund".
| Company | Sector | Call date | Tariff mentions | "Tariff refund(s)" mentions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dollar Tree (DLTR) | Consumer Defensive | 2026-08-27 | 57 | 21 |
| Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) | Industrials | 2026-07-29 | 46 | 24 |
| Williams-Sonoma (WSM) | Consumer Cyclical | 2026-08-26 | 36 | 8 |
| Masco (MAS) | Industrials | 2026-07-29 | 33 | 15 |
| Caterpillar (CAT) | Industrials | 2026-08-04 | 30 | 0 |
| W.W. Grainger (GWW) | Industrials | 2026-08-04 | 29 | 11 |
| Deckers Outdoor (DECK) | Consumer Cyclical | 2026-07-23 | 23 | 3 |
| Cardinal Health (CAH) | Healthcare | 2026-08-11 | 21 | 11 |
| Lowe's (LOW) | Consumer Cyclical | 2026-08-19 | 21 | 15 |
| Tractor Supply (TSCO) | Consumer Cyclical | 2026-07-23 | 20 | 6 |
| Generac (GNRC) | Industrials | 2026-07-29 | 20 | 12 |
| Lennox International (LII) | Industrials | 2026-07-29 | 20 | 6 |
| Baxter International (BAX) | Healthcare | 2026-07-30 | 20 | 14 |
| A. O. Smith (AOS) | Industrials | 2026-07-30 | 20 | 1 |
| Dollar General (DG) | Consumer Defensive | 2026-08-27 | 20 | 14 |
| Costco (COST) | Consumer Defensive | 2026-09-24 | 20 | 12 |
The first calls of October 2026
By 22 October, 46 S&P 500 companies outside utilities had held an earnings call in October 2026 with a transcript on file, and 45 of them had a call about a year earlier to compare with. Those 45 companies mentioned tariffs 36 times in October 2026, against 203 times on their calls a year earlier, a fall of 82%. Nine of them mentioned tariffs, against 26 a year earlier.
| Company | Call a year earlier | Mentions | October 2026 call | Mentions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McCormick (MKC) | 2025-10-07 | 48 | 2026-10-01 | 4 |
| General Motors (GM) | 2025-10-21 | 35 | 2026-10-20 | 8 |
| Wabtec (WAB) | 2025-10-22 | 16 | 2026-10-21 | 5 |
| Hasbro (HAS) | 2025-10-23 | 15 | 2026-10-20 | 9 |
| Fastenal (FAST) | 2025-10-13 | 14 | 2026-10-14 | 3 |
| RTX (RTX) | 2025-10-21 | 12 | 2026-10-20 | 0 |
| Steel Dynamics (STLD) | 2025-10-20 | 10 | 2026-10-20 | 0 |
| Nike (NKE) | 2025-09-30 | 10 | 2026-10-01 | 0 |
| Travelers (TRV) | 2025-10-16 | 7 | 2026-10-16 | 0 |
| Abbott Laboratories (ABT) | 2025-10-15 | 6 | 2026-10-21 | 0 |
The October group leans toward banks, insurers and industrials, which report early, so its share is not comparable with full quarters. The same-company comparison is.
Utilities
Utilities file "tariffs" with their regulators: the rate schedules they charge, including the large-load tariffs written for data centers. That use is unrelated to trade. In 2024, before trade tariffs became a theme, 29.4% of utility calls mentioned the word, against no more than 18.5% in any other sector. Their 323 calls are left out of every figure above. Utility mentions per call followed the same rise and fall, from 0.14 in January to March 2024 to 9.87 in April to June 2025 and 3.39 in July to September 2026.
Methodology
Sample: earnings calls held from 5 January 2024 to 22 October 2026 by the 498 companies in the S&P 500 on 21 October 2026, less the 31 utilities. One call per company and fiscal quarter; where duplicates exist, the longest transcript is kept. Calls without transcript text (238 across the full sample) and calls under 1,500 words (4) are excluded. The result is 4,952 calls from 464 companies, between 432 and 457 a quarter.
Text: the speaker-by-speaker transcripts in the Equibles earnings call archive, transcribed from the call audio by speech recognition.
Counting: case-insensitive whole-word matches of "tariff" or "tariffs". "Tariff refund(s)" counts the exact two-word phrase. A call discusses tariffs and refunds when one speaker turn contains both "tariff(s)" and a word starting with "refund". Supreme Court and IEEPA counts require the term and "tariff(s)" in the same speaker turn.
Periods: the calendar quarter in which the call was held, not the fiscal quarter it reports. Calls held from April to June 2025 mostly report results for January to March 2025.
Sectors: the company's sector classification on Equibles.
Limitations
The sample is today's index, so companies that left the S&P 500 since 2024 are missing and companies that joined are included for their full history. A word count measures attention, not exposure; a company can face large tariff costs and say little about them. Speech recognition can misspell words, which is why the IEEPA count includes variant spellings.
Conclusion
Tariffs went from a topic nearly every S&P 500 company raised in the spring of 2025 to one that a third of companies mention, and most of the remaining mentions come from calls that also discuss getting tariffs refunded. Retailers and makers of tools and building products are the exception, and they are also the companies doing most of the talking about refunds. Banks, landlords, energy producers and materials companies have largely stopped mentioning tariffs.
Every company's earnings call transcripts on Equibles come with the call audio, and the free Equibles MCP server can count any word or phrase across a company's recent calls, so an AI agent can run the same check on a single stock. Our earlier study of what Form 144 filings mean for a stock applies the same kind of count-and-compare analysis to insider sale notices.
References
International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. chapter 35.