www.zerohedge.com BY TYLER DURDEN
An ever-expanding list of public companies, including Apple, Exxon, GM, and Nike, are proudly announcing they are cutting ties to Russia as its invasion of Ukraine brings condemnation and sanctions.
But while all this sounds very ‘politically-correct’ and ‘shared-sacrifice’-y, Bloomberg reports that if every U.S. tech firm followed Apple and disconnected from Russia, it would reduce revenue by only 1%-2% in a worst-case scenario, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. So far, the lost business looks like it wonât have a major impact on profits (or stock prices), especially with China being by far Russia’s largest trading partner.
In fact, for some, like Exxon, cutting ties with Russia can spark a ‘virtue-signaling’ ESG boost with minimal impact to the company’s actual business, and as Bloomberg’s Tim Culpan remarks in a very frank opinion piece, consumer brands halting sales in Russia “smells of opportunism” to some, with transportation constrained, limited access to international payments systems, and a sinking ruble:
