The no. 1 thing US companies are complaining about right now
The earnings season for the second quarter kicks off in earnest starting this week with companies letting investors in on their performance and even their worries.
24 corporations in the S&P 500 have already released earnings through Thursday, and all but one have held conference calls going over the second quarter numbers.
FactSet combed through the earnings reports and listened in on the conference calls to determine the biggest concerns facing the management teams.
It seems that much like last quarter, there is one issue dominating the conversation.
"Based on the earnings calls to date, the stronger U.S. dollar has been cited by the most companies (17) in the index as a factor that either had a negative impact on earnings or revenues for Q2, or is expected to have a negative impact on earnings and revenues in future quarters," said John Butters of Factset.
The strong dollar makes it more expensive to sell goods outside of US hurting competitiveness with foreign-made goods. This poses a big problem for companies that operate globally.
FactSet
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Butters also noted there was little concern over Greece.
"It is interesting to note that only one company (Walgreens Boots Alliance) in the index has commented on the crisis in Greece during an earnings call to date," he said.
The lack of interest does make sense, very little trade flows to Greece from the US and companies have been uninterested in Greece for weeks.
The improving labor market leading to higher wage costs was the second-highest concern, and no international issue cracked the top 5.
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