: Inflation is turning into a headwind for these five publicly traded companies, analysis shows

Glyn Kirk/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesSophisticated algorithms, based on 25 macro-economic drivers used to calculate appropriate fair values for asset prices, have identified the top five publicly traded companies for which inflation is turning into a significant headwind. The companies are Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. REGN; Centerspace CSR; SBA Communications Corp. SBAC; ResMed Inc. RMD; and DexCom Inc. DXCM, according to Colin Stewart, head of Americas for Quant Insight in New York, citing data as of Wednesday.The data incorporates moves in 2- to 10-year U.S. inflation expectations, using inflation swaps, to determine which companies stand the best chance of weathering a period of higher prices, by being able to pass that on to consumers. The five companies seen as getting helped the most by higher inflation acting as a tailwind are Endo International PLC ENDP; Boston Beer Co. SAM; Calavo Growers Inc. CVGW; Discovery Inc. DISCA; and SelectQuote Inc. SLQT, according to Quant Insight’s data.Higher inflation tends to provide a positive lift to stocks, until either it compresses profit margins and a company lacks the pricing power to make up for it, or markets expect interest-rate rises to put the brakes on economic growth. Bond markets worldwide are now factoring in the potential for a global rate-hiking cycle beginning next year, as evidenced by the pronounced flattening of curves across countries.“Markets, we feel, are hampered by the inability to mark to macro,” or trade at levels that accurately reflect the state of the economy, Stewart said by phone. “We put eyes on this very big blind spot for investors, by calculating all the factors that drive up asset prices across equities, ETFs, rates, commodities and crypto currencies.”A recent explosion of alternative data sources like Quant Insight, based in London and New York, is giving investors access to tools previously reserved for only hedge funds, with traditional money managers scouring the world for information that can give them an edge. Read: The explosion of ‘alternative’ data gives regular investors access to tools previously employed only by hedge fundsQuant Insight serves portfolio managers, traders, insurers and corporations. It was co-founded by former hedge-fund manager Mahmood Noorani and has a team of academic advisors that include astrophysics professor Michael Hobson of the University of Cambridge in the U.K. In March 2020, at the onset of the pandemic in the U.S., the firm predicted the S&P 500 Index SPX would bottom out on the 15th of that month — roughly a week sooner than the index actually did. Quant Insight isn’t currently giving a forecast for the S&P 500, saying the index is now trading “out of regime,” or for reasons that are outside of economic fundamentals, Stewart says. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 edged higher along with the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP as investors weighed earnings from tech stocks. Meanwhile, Dow industrials DJIA were under modest pressure in afternoon trade.

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