As investors pore over third-quarter earnings reports, they are finding signs of corporate malaise that are raising concerns about the outlook for U.S. stocks.
While profit gains have generally been solid, many blue-chip companies are posting weak sales growth or outright year-over-year revenue declines, causing worries about their long-term growth prospects. Others are reporting earnings increases driven by factors that don’t reflect sustainable improvements in their business, such as share buybacks and cost-cutting efforts.
Amplifying those concerns is a softening global economic outlook. U.S. multinational firms are now contending with slowing economic growth in key markets like Europe and China, and a strengthening dollar that threatens to further damp revenue by reducing the value of payments collected in foreign currencies when converted into dollars.
Few investors expect a sustained stock decline. But many traders and analysts say they fear future growth at U.S. companies won’t be robust enough to meet the high expectations currently implied by the above-average valuations on blue-chip shares. Friday’s employment report for October, which showed another month of modest job gains tempered by only slight increases in wages, underscored those concerns.
