Every earnings season, companies share the details of their financial performance. Additionally, many managers will reveal what they are seeing and what they are expecting for the economy.
The view out of Q1 2013?
Things have turned a corner, but it's still slow going.
For instance, China is slowing down, but not so much that it will disrupt markets.
North America is looking great, especially in Mexico.
Among regions, it's really just the European Union that's really struggling — but even there, we may have bottomed out.
Consumer sentiment remains solid, even in the face of the sequester. And at least one company believes we'd be able to weather a pullback in dovish monetary policy.
Some companies are seeing scattered softness.
But overall, the snapshots indicate strength.
Swift Transportation says consumers are proving resilient.
"Our customers are much closer to the end consumers and their buying patterns than we are, so we rely pretty heavily on our customer feedback in this regard. They have indicated that customer sentiment is still pretty good in spite of all the macroeconomic noise, elimination of the payroll tax holiday, the sequestration, Europe, weather and et cetera.”
Source: Swift Earnings Call via Bloomberg
Though McDonald's says they're not necessarily eating out.
“The challenging economic environment in which we’re operating impacted our first quarter results. While there are mixed signs of a slow recovery in the U.S., significant headwinds persist, as consumer confidence continues to waver. Persistently high unemployment rates and ongoing austerity measures in Europe and soft macroeconomic conditions in APMEA, are pressuring consumer purchasing power, as well. And the informal eating out industry is either flat or declining in many markets around the world."
Source: McDonald's Earnings Call via Bloomberg
General Dynamics says effects from the sequester seem to be pretty muted.
“In general, we do not see sequester as a significant threat to 2013. Most of our sales are in our backlog."
Source: General Dynamics Earnings Call via Bloomberg
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