Sinking Profits Bring Reality Check to AI-Driven Rally in Emerging Market Stocks
- Almost half of developing-country companies miss estimates
- Average earnings drop 10% amid sluggish consumer demand
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Just as enthusiasm over artificial intelligence and China’s stimulus fades, a familiar weakness has come back to haunt equity investors in emerging markets: sinking corporate profits.
With 96% of companies in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index done with their quarterly results, the earnings season is almost over. And the picture isn’t pretty — Almost half of the companies have missed analyst estimates, average profits have slumped 10% compared with the prior-year period and for every dollar of predicted earnings, companies are bringing home only 86 cents. Two years ago an 18% rise in profits helped EM companies smash projections.