Before COVID-19, the world economy was moving steadily toward deeper globalisation. Mobility, international travel, and cross-border trade fostered a level of interconnectedness never seen before.
The pandemic in 2020 temporarily disrupted that trajectory, exposing vulnerabilities in supply chains and slowing the pace of integration. Yet, five years later, it’s clear that globalisation remains a powerful driver of economic growth—adapting, reshaping, and in many ways accelerating through digitalisation and new trade dynamics.
And with that, globalisation continues to shape your investments. So, let’s ask: Does a US-based company listed on the NASDAQ or NYSE carry 100% US country risk? Or should we look deeper—perhaps at where its revenues truly come from? That’s exactly what we’ll explore in this article. Follow along!
Revenues: The metric to look for
According to Apollo Chied Economist, 41% of S&P 500 companies’ revenues in 2024 came from abroad, with the remaining 59% coming from the US
As stated in the S&P 500 (SPY) factsheet, the following are the top 10 holdings as of June 2025:
Looking at the top holdings of the S&P 500 in 2024, it’s interesting to see how Apple’s revenue distribution remains heavily international, with only approximately 36% coming from the United States.
In other words, we can easily observe that an investor allocating capital in an ETF replicating the S&P 500 will be much less exposed to the United States than they might intuitively believe!
Since companies like Apple, which make up a significant portion of the S&P 500, generate a substantial part of their revenues from international markets, investing in the S&P 500 provides more global diversification than one might expect.
An analysis of the revenue sources within the S&P 500 gives a clearer picture of your real geographic exposure.
Real-life examples
Philip Morris
Philip Morris, one of the world’s leading international tobacco companies, is headquartered in New York City and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. However, it has no revenues coming from the US, as you can see in the 2024 annual report:
Besides, as listed in the US, the trading currency is the USD. As a European investor, do you think that your risk exposure is the US Dollar? We know it does not sound clear at first, but you have no USD risk since you have no revenues from the US and, in theory, revenue translation should offset currency movement in the long run.
Looking just to 2024, you will notice that Philip Morris had a translation loss of $841 (2.20% of 2024 revenues). It means an appreciation of the USD against the average currencies in which Philip Morris sells its products. In theory, you would see an adverse stock price reaction due to the lower USD revenues.
Nestlé
So, a European investor would see the stock decline but a gain in the foreign currency exposure (from USD to EUR).
Another example comes from Nestlé, a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation. It is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX), and so, it is quoted in Swiss francs (CHF).
Still, only less than 1% of the company’s revenues come from Switzerland. Are you exposed to Switzerland or CHF? We do not think so!
In the summary of the 2024 Annual Report, you will find the following: “ Total reported sales decreased by 1.8% to CHF 91.4 billion, including negative impacts of 3.7% from foreign exchange movements and 0.3% from net divestitures” (our bold). This reduction negatively impacted the stock market price. However, this will be offset (in theory, in total) by the appreciation of the CHF, which will give you more EUR (since you own Nestlé shares, quoted in CHF).
Bottom line
All in all, assessing the company’s country revenues (and, consequently, currency exposure) will help you better understand the actual risks of the business. Incorporating all these factors into the decision-making process should contribute to a proper level of diversification.
This is just one of the many factors to consider in any due diligence process. Our idea was to discourage you from thinking that not investing in a company listed on a stock exchange would expose you to too much risk. It would be helpful if you always took a second to consider your real risk exposure.
A reminder that the above should not be construed as investment advice and should be considered information only. Investors should do their own research and due diligence about the services and opportunities best suited for their risk, returns, and impact strategy.
If you need further guidance or have questions, feel free to reach out to us. Happy investments!
