There was a major pothole hit this week following a string of poor earning’s reports fueled by a strong dollar and a slowing of the global economy in the fourth quarter. Consumer staples giant Proctor & Gamble Co (NYSE: PG) suffered greatly from the dollar appreciating against foreign currencies, as they generated 61 percent of their revenue outside the U.S in 2014.
Proctor & Gamble reported EPS of $1.06 versus estimates of $1.14, and revenue of $21.16 million versus estimates of $21.7 million for their fiscal second quarter. The drop was due to currency fluctuations as CEO A.G. Lafley stated, “The October - December 2014 quarter was a challenging one with unprecedented currency devaluations.”
Along with Proctor & Gamble, some of the world’s largest technology companies suffered from poor earnings as well. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) being hit the worst, falling 10 percent despite beating on revenue and posting in-line EPS for fiscal 2014. The concern comes with the decreased revenue in their largest sectors: computing hardware and gaming revenue decreased 11 percent, as well as the licensing revenue from their flagship Windows business fell 2 percent.
The most concerning earnings report came from construction equipment giant Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT). The company posted ...
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