Twitter Inc last week pulled its first-quarter revenue outlook and forecast an operating loss, while Marriott International Inc and FedEx Corp have backed away from 2020 forecasts.The profit picture is worsening even as Congress approved a $2 trillion funding package and stocks began to rebound from weeks of selling that ended the longest U.S. bull market.
“One possibility is some companies presenting separate guidance paths that account for best-case, middle-case, and worst-case pandemic scenarios.” As a result, analysts’ forecasts are understating the earnings contraction, he said, estimating a 24.1% drop in aggregate 2020 operating earnings for the S&P 500 index.
globebusiness The stock market clearly knows more about the Corona Virus than what the government is disclosing. Steven Magee