NEW YORK: US companies' profit growth forecasts for the next five years are still intact, according to Refinitiv data, suggesting that the impact inflicted on companies by the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be more fleeting than that in previous crises.
According to consensus estimates data available on Refinitiv, companies in the MSCI United States index are likely to post annualized profit growth of 12 per cent in the next five years, double the rate in the past five.
Advertisement Advertisement
Analysts have not slashed five-year growth estimates in any month this year.
Five-year growth expectations fell over six percentage points between November 2018 and October 2019 on worries over US-China trade war. They declined about three percentage points between July 2008 and June 2009 during the global financial crisis.
"The current consensus expectation is that earnings will recover sharply from 2021 onwards and that the coronavirus impact will be limited to 2020," Alain Bokobz, head of global asset allocation at Societe Generale, said in a report.
"In the previous two recessions, the US equity market took around three years to reclaim pre-crisis earnings peak."
Advertisement Advertisement
US shares have climbed over 40 per cent since March-lows, largely on the back of massive fiscal and monetary stimulus.
SocGen's Bokobz said double-digit earnings growth is required for US stocks to deliver a 7 per cent total return in the next five years.
Analysts expect the recovery will be disproportionate across sectors.
"For sectors like consumer staples and technology, the recovery will be much shorter than the 2008 recession. The reason we may see a swift economic recovery is due to pent-up demand from consumers who have been holed up in their homes for a number of months and have limited spending," said Matta Fox, founder and wealth adviser at Ithaca Wealth Management.
