Figure 210 Aug 2026From “What AI did to cost of goods sold is not visible in the line everyone quotes.”

The line everyone quotes, drawn over seventeen quarters

Up 1.5 points from 2022, flat since mid-2024. The axis runs 60 to 80 rather than zero so a 1.5-point move is visible at all; the compression the debate predicts would leave this band entirely.

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Figure 2The line everyone quotes, drawn over seventeen quarters

Source: Computed from the published panel with the code beside it: revenue-weighted quarterly gross margin across the 53-firm balanced panel, SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts, 2022Q1 to 2026Q1. The axis is truncated to 60–80 for a reason the deck states; at full scale the move disappears.

PNG4:3, 1600 × 1200, with the title, the source line and the attribution set in the image isoglu-2026-what-ai-did-to-cost-of-goods-sold-fig02.png

From the essay

Revenue operations & AI

What AI did to cost of goods sold is not visible in the line everyone quotes.

Two camps argue about AI and software margins from survey data. The audited filings agree with neither, and could not have settled it anyway.

10 Aug 2026

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APA 7

Isoglu, S. (2026). The line everyone quotes, drawn over seventeen quarters [Figure]. isoglu.com. https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-what-ai-did-to-cost-of-goods-sold-fig02/

BibTeX

@misc{isoglu-2026-what-ai-did-to-cost-of-goods-sold-fig02,
  author = {Isoglu, Sinan},
  title = {{The line everyone quotes, drawn over seventeen quarters}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Figure 2, isoglu.com},
  url = {https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-what-ai-did-to-cost-of-goods-sold-fig02/},
  note = {From the essay {What AI did to cost of goods sold is not visible in the line everyone quotes.}}
}

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<figure>
  <a href="https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-what-ai-did-to-cost-of-goods-sold-fig02/">
    <img src="https://isoglu.com/social/isoglu-2026-what-ai-did-to-cost-of-goods-sold-fig02.png" alt="Figure 2: The line everyone quotes, drawn over seventeen quarters" width="3200" height="2400">
  </a>
  <figcaption>Figure 2: The line everyone quotes, drawn over seventeen quarters. Source: Computed from the published panel with the code beside it: revenue-weighted quarterly gross margin across the 53-firm balanced panel, SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts, 2022Q1 to 2026Q1. The axis is truncated to 60–80 for a reason the deck states; at full scale the move disappears. <a href="https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-what-ai-did-to-cost-of-goods-sold-fig02/">View exhibit</a>.</figcaption>
</figure>