Wednesday, July 30, 2008

S&P 500 Company Sales Increasingly International

Standard & Poor's reported the percentage of 2007 sales for S&P 500 companies that come from foreign countries has increased since 2006 to 45.8% versus 43.6%, respectively. S&P included data from 251 companies that have full reporting information.

(click on chart for larger image)

s&p 500 foreign sales chart 2003-2007
The report notes some country breakdowns:
  • European sales represented 28.8% of their foreign sales, with 4.6% coming from the United Kingdom
  • Asian sales represented 16.8%
  • Africa sales represented 6.8%
  • South America represented 3.7%

One issue worth watching is the impact a stronger dollar would have on U.S. multinational firms' earnings.

Source:
S&P: Foreign Sales by U.S. Companies Continue to Rise (PDF)
Standard & Poor's
By: Howard Silverblatt and Dave Guarino
July 30, 2008
http://www2.standardandpoors.com/portal/site/sp/en/us/page.article/2,3,2,2,1204838219808.html


2 comments :

Anonymous said...

It looks like the S&P has done a better job going international than my portfolio.

Great read!

Best Wishes,
D4L

David Templeton, CFA said...

A strong dollar will be a head wind though.