Currency’s surge to highest level in 20 years is taking a toll on businesses with global operationsThe strong dollar has wiped billions of dollars off the second-quarter sales of US companies, prompting many to cut their guidance for the remainder of the year.
The list of bellwethers stomaching multi million- or billion-dollar hits has grown by the day after the US currency surged to its highest level in 20 years this month, including IBM, Netflix, Johnson & Johnson and Philip Morris. That group is expected to swell as titans of the technology industry such as Apple and Microsoft — which generate a substantial portion of their business outside of the US — release quarterly results in the coming days.