March 2 (Reuters) - European blue-chip companies' results have proven more resilient than analysts were expecting in the fourth quarter, the latest LSEG I/B/E/S data showed on Friday.
Year-on-year earnings of major European companies are now expected to have shrunk only 0.1% in the final quarter of 2025, based on results from 201 STOXX 600 companies and market estimates for those that are yet to report, the data showed.
The estimates were much more glum just a month ago, when analysts forecast a 4% drop in European blue-chips' earnings.
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Although the estimates have clearly improved in recent weeks, it would still be the worst earnings season in the past eight quarters.
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About 57% of the 201 STOXX 600 companies that have reported earnings have exceeded market estimates.
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Revenues are estimated to shrink 2%. They have lagged earnings in six out of seven most recent quarters.
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The earnings forecasts had sharply deteriorated in the months following U.S. President Donald Trump's original tariff announcement.
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After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled most of Trump's tariffs unlawful, the U.S. administration implemented a new 10% blanket tariff.
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Businesses will likely have to reassess the new rules, their strategies and supply chains, analysts say.
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That will be compounded by the widening conflict in the Middle East, with oil prices and inflation expected to shoot up.
Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak.
Source: Reuters