Nobody can say with any real certainty how widespread the coronavirus outbreak will become or what overall or long-term impact it will have on market economies and global trade. Surrounded by such uncertainties, the pandemic has quickly catapulted high on the list of hot risk topics for business leaders everywhere.
A recent analysis conducted by FactSet finds that, among 364 S&P 500 companies that conducted fourth-quarter earnings conference calls from Jan. 1 through Feb. 13, 138 (38 percent) mentioned “coronavirus” (also called COVID-19) during the call. Among 11 total sectors analyzed, the highest number of companies that discussed the coronavirus on earnings calls were in the industrials (26), information technology (26), and healthcare (24) sectors.
