In a world of slow stagnating growth, foreign exchange variations can have a dramatic impact on top and bottom lines - especially in a market where hedges are flummoxed by government-influenced gap-after-gap and mismatch. As Goldman notes the headwinds of FX into Q2 are acute and have been painful for multi-nationals - with several high-profile companies missing and or adjusting down forecasts due to the rise of the US dollar. In spite of all the focus on Q2 earnings, we remind investors that Q3 and Q4 will also see significant currency headwinds - an impact we (and Goldman) believes is far from priced in for many companies in the market - a total top-line drag of over 5% YoY.
The year-over-year impact of FX rates has become a drag on growth for the typical multinational in 2012
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YOY changes assuming current spot rates of 1.23 USD/EUR, 1.56 USD/GBP and JPY/USD 78.60 hold through the rest of the year
Via Goldman Sachs:
- Our model estimates that FX boosted the top line of a typical multi-national company by nearly 2.5% in 2011, but that the yoy changes should result in close to a 2.6% headwind this year – a total expected yoy drag of more than 5%.
- We emphasize the continuation of the FX drag as we enter 3Q, where we model relative 7% yoy deterioration due to FX, based on current spot rates.
- During the on-going 2Q reporting season several multi-national companies have cited FX as a considerable headwind.