- US Shoppers Spent Less Over Black Friday: NRF
- UAE Central Bank Stands by Banks Amid Dubai Crisis
- UAE Markets Seen Limit Down on Monday Open
- Banks With The Biggest Exposure to The UAE
- Dubai's Debt Woes Signal New Era for Creditors
- A Weak IPO Debut for Las Vegas Sands' Macau Unit
- US Treasury Wants Banks to Do More to Ease Mortgages
- Tiger Woods Accepts Full Blame for Car Crash
- Next Week: Cash In Now Or Wait For A Santa Rally?
- Portfolio Prep for Next Week: 'Don't Get Crazy'
- U.S. Stocks Fall on Dubai Worries
- Black Friday at Best Buy
- Strategists on Dubai: Avoid 'Rash Moves' Now
- Longer Lines, Fuller Carts This Black Friday
- Dubai Stock Market Fear Has 'Legs': Dennis Gartman
- Obama's Emission Reduction Pledge Paints Future for Autos
- Is Super Bowl Halftime Act Too Old?
- Surprising Options Trades in TiVo Shares
Text Size 
A big reason multinational companies are beating revenue estimates this quarter is the weaker U.S. dollar. But no one--until now--has quantified that effect.
CNBC looked at the 19 Dow components that have reported so far and found a multi-billion-dollar boost to the top line from the decline of the greenback.
Of those 19 Dow components--about two-thirds of the Dow--one company, Alcoa, had a negative impact on revenue from currency changes.
Two companies--AT&T and Intel--told us that there was no effect. But 14 companies had a positive impact, ranging from a low of 7% to a high of 51%.
The average company had a 27% positive currency earnings impact.
Revenues from these 19 companies are up $21.5 billion for the quarter. Of that amount, $3.4 billion, or 16% has come from positive currency gains.
So far, revenues are running about $9 billion ahead of analyst estimates. So the currency factor explains about 40% of the surprise.
It's impossible to know how much this has affected the bottom line. Currency gains at General Electric, the parent of CNBC, explained 26% of its revenue growth. But the company says it's had a "miniscule effect on earnings." GE says that's because costs in the local currency also increase.
But that will differ from company to company. For some, analysts say, currency gains flow right through to the bottom line.
This is double juice for companies: Not only have foreign sales been stronger, but they get those foreign sales at a better exchange rate, helping the top and bottom lines.
Print
Email
- These four sectors will be the next to lead the market.
- Zhu Zhu Pets are this year's must-have toy, fetching $40 or more on eBay.
- From the why-didn’t-I-think-of-that file, we present Jason Sadler, a man whose job is wearing T-shirts.
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- Shopping for a gadget hound? The choices can be baffling. Here are a few that should be a hit.
- "The Who" will be the halftime act for Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 in Miami. Is the NFL behind the times?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes