LIVE MARKETS-Tariffs on companies' minds, ESG fades

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TARIFFS ON COMPANIES’ MINDS, ESG FADES ON EARNINGS CALLS

Tariffs saw the largest increase in topics mentioned in company earnings calls in the last six months while other issues including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) saw little interest, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

S&P looked at keywords and phrases including tariffs, inflation, interest rates, recession, ESG, sustainability and artificial intelligence.

The number of earnings calls that mentioned tariffs increased across all eight sectors that S&P analyzed, while the word recession saw an uptick in four sectors and artificial intelligence (AI) increased in one.

Discussions about interest rates, inflation and sustainability, meanwhile, decreased in all eight sectors, while calls that mentioned ESG and AI declined in six.

The consumer sector saw the biggest increase in calls that mentioned tariffs, with the topic being raised in 64 calls in the six months following the presidential election, compared to 10 in the prior six months. Industrials also saw an increase to 61 calls, from 10.

Inflation, meanwhile, remains the most mentioned keyword in four sectors, led by the consumer sector, which 109 mentioning the topic. It was nonetheless down from the six months preceding the election, when it was the most cited issue for all sectors except tech, media and telecommunications.

Real estate was the only sector in which tariffs and inflation didn’t dominate the discussions, with interest rates instead being the prime focus, with a mention in 18 calls.

ESG was the least talked about keyword across all sectors, making an appearance in only 13 S&P 500 earnings calls. S&P notes the topic was also scarce in the preelection period.

(Karen Brettell)

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