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There’s a chart buried in here, but first I need to tell you a story.
I grew up playing all kinds of sports.
Football was always my main thing. I played quarterback through high school and then defensive back in college. But in my youth I also played baseball, wrestled, dabbled in rugby, and even gave lacrosse a shot.
Each was fun in its own way, but outside of scoring touchdowns, stealing home in baseball was one of my favorite things to do in sports.
The backstop was tight to home at Melville Park in Fairfield, CT, so I couldn’t score on most wild pitches. Instead, I would wait for the catcher to throw a pitch back and as the pitcher turned around (when nobody was paying attention), I’d slowly start to inch off third and then sprint as fast as I could home.
It was risky for two reasons: 1/ if the pitcher turned around quick, I could easily get thrown out at home. And 2/ there was a nonzero chance I’d give our third base coach an aneurysm since I didn’t usually consult him beforehand. Sorry Mr. Mancini.
You might call that bush league. I didn’t care at all. If we won, A&S Italian Fine Foods would give us free sandwiches since they sponsored us. That chicken cutlet has been the best risk-adjusted return of my life. No regrets.
I wasn’t necessarily the fastest kid, and there were definitely guys on the team that stole more bases than me, but most of the time they were going from first to second. I was going from third to home.
It was the base I started on that mattered.
It would be pretty normal for someone that’s 40 to tell a story about when they were 25, right? That’s 15 years.
But I just set the stage for a chart I’m going to show you at 26 with a story from when I was 11.
Same 15 years, two different starting points. See how the base matters?
It’s especially important today as I go through the Q2 2026 earnings figures, specifically for tech.
Below you’re looking at YoY earnings growth by quarter for the tech sector.
First look at the 48% earnings growth in tech during Q2 2021. That number was coming off of a wrecked Covid base.
Now look at the 71% earnings growth in tech during Q2 2026. That number is coming off of a strong 2025 base.
The growth in 2021 was impressive, but it was the equivalent of stealing second. Today, tech is stealing home.
Thank you for reading!
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