Virus Surge Threatens Newfound U.S. Corporate Profit Optimism
- Roughly half of S&P 500 companies raised profit forecasts
- Soaring Covid-19 infections in U.S. are causing renewed angst
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In a year that saw corporate forecasts canceled faster than travel plans, the third-quarter U.S. earnings season brought a sense of normalcy with better-than-expected profits and rising forecasts. Now a second wave of Covid-19 infections and renewed lockdowns threaten to cloud those views.
With results from most of the S&P 500 companies in, nearly 85% have beaten profit estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. About half of those that have reported raised fourth-quarter earnings forecasts, the largest proportion to do so in at least a decade.