A single Wall Street analyst is responsible for skewing the revenue picture of the whole stock market.
UBS analyst Brian Meredith slashed his fourth-quarter revenue estimate for Berkshire Hathaway on Tuesday, bringing the consensus forecast down to $48.4 billion from $63.5 billion for the Warren Buffett-led company, according to data provider Refinitiv.
Because of the drastic cut by Meredith and the size and influence of Berkshire Hathaway, the 's total blended revenue growth rate fell to 5.2 percent from 6.1 percent, dropping nearly a full percentage point. The blended rate takes into account companies that have already reported and estimates for those that haven't released their numbers. Berkshire Hathaway is the fifth-biggest company in the S&P 500 by market value.
According to Refinitiv, Meredith cut his estimate because of "the inclusion of mark-to-market losses." Berkshire Hathaway is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter results on Saturday morning.
Meredith's revenue cut also erased the financials sector's blended growth revenue rate. The consensus for revenue in financials is now for a decline of 3.2 percent from an expansion of 3.9 percent.