“For U.S. large cap companies, a recession in the EU is a bigger risk” than an unsuccessful resolution to the U.S.-China trade dispute, Joe Quinlan, head of CIO market strategy at Bank of America’s, told. For companies in the S&P 500 index foreign sales have contributed between 43% and 47% of total revenue, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
“Europe remains, by far, the most important market for U.S. multinational companies, with the region accounting for 55% of global foreign affiliate income,” Quinlan wrote. He said U.S. corporate earnings in Europe hit a record $284 billion in 2018, up 7% from the year before. Meanwhile, U.S. affiliates in China earned just $13.3 billion in China, a 1.1% decrease from the year earlier.
“In other words America’s trans-Atlantic partnership with Europe has proven to pay significant dividends,” Quinlan argued, with profits from the EU rising rapidly despite a slowing European economy.