What Are S&P 500 Companies Saying About the Crisis in Ukraine on Q4 Earnings Calls?

Given the escalation of the military conflict in Ukraine in recent weeks, have S&P 500 companies commented on the situation in Ukraine on their earnings calls for the fourth quarter?

Searching for Mentions Across Conference Call Transcripts

FactSet Document Search (which allows users to search for key words or phrases across multiple document types) was used to answer this question. Through Document Search, FactSet searched for the term “Ukraine” in the conference call transcripts of all S&P 500 companies that conducted earnings conference calls from December 15 through March 11.

Of these companies, 45 have cited the term “Ukraine” on their earnings calls for the fourth quarter, which is well above the five-year average of four. In fact, this is the highest number of S&P 500 companies citing “Ukraine” on earnings calls going back to at least 2010 (using current index constituents going back in time). The previous record was 40, which occurred in Q1 2014.

In terms of timing, there was a substantial increase in the number of S&P 500 companies citing “Ukraine” on earnings calls starting the week of February 14. From December 15 through February 14, only 10 S&P 500 companies cited “Ukraine” on their earnings calls for the fourth quarter. From February 15 through March 11, 35 S&P 500 companies cited “Ukraine” on their earnings calls for the fourth quarter.

Since the escalation of the military conflict on February 23, 25 S&P 500 companies have cited “Ukraine” on earnings calls for the fourth quarter. Of these 25 companies, 18 expressed support and concern for their employees and clients in Ukraine (and more broadly for the people of Ukraine). Eleven companies discussed the potential business or economic impact of the conflict. Six companies also discussed higher oil and energy prices in conjunction with their comments on Ukraine. These numbers do not add to 25, as some companies commented on multiple topics.

To see the comments from the 25 companies that have cited “Ukraine” on their earnings calls since February 23, please click the link below to access the full FactSet Earnings Insight report and refer to Appendix 1 on pages 33 to 35.

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