History shows that viral outbreaks can have a significant, if short-lived, effect on sales, Credit Suisse's Michael Binetti said in a note Monday.
For the most exposed companies, the cost could amount to a 3-5% reduction in earnings per share next quarter if coronavirus continues, Credit Suisse analyst Michael Binetti said in a Monday research note. On top of that, there's a risk that media coverage itself could eat into share performance, he said, adding that price-earnings ratios, a measure of how expensive a company's share price is relative to value, could fall by 10-15%.
Binetti based his analysis of the risk of coronavirus off of historical data from SARS and avian flu outbreaks in 2003 and 2004-2006, respectively.