Calls Reveal Hot Earnings Topics For Q2 by John Butters – FactSet
While the majority of S&P 500 companies will report earnings results for Q2 2016 over the next few weeks, approximately 7% of the companies in the index (35 companies) have already reported earnings results for the second quarter.
Given the number of concerns in the market heading into this earnings season (including Brexit, oil prices, foreign exchange rates, interest rates, terrorism, and the US presidential election), what specific factors have S&P 500 companies discussed during their earnings conference calls to date that could potentially impact earnings and revenue growth?
To answer this question, FactSet searched for specific terms related to a number of factors (e.g., “currency” “China”) in the conference call transcripts of the 30 S&P 500 companies that have conducted second quarter earnings conference calls through July 14 to see how many companies discussed these factors.
Top of Mind
Of the terms searched, “currency” was the term cited in the most conference calls (21) to date. The terms “Brexit” and/or “UK referendum” were cited by 10 (or one-third) of the S&P 500 companies during their earnings calls. To date, no S&P 500 companies have discussed “Zika” or “terrorism” during their earnings calls.
Related: Four Post-Brexit Regulatory Considerations
It is interesting to note the change in the number of companies discussing these terms compared to the same time last year. At this point in time last year (through July 14, 2015), 28 S&P 500 companies had conducted earnings calls for Q2 2015. Of the same terms searched, “Brexit” and/or “UK referendum” (+10) witnessed the largest increase relative to last year. More S&P 500 companies have also discussed “interest rate” (+7), “wage(s)” (+4), and Brazil (+3) compared to last year.
Read more about earnings trends in this edition of FactSet Earnings Insight. Visit www.factset.com/earningsinsight to launch the latest report.
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