Zero profit growth expected for U.S. companies in first quarter

Falling oil prices, a soaring dollar and concern about weaker global demand have increasingly pessimistic analysts predicting Standard & Poor's 500 companies will see no earnings growth at all in the first quarter of 2015. Revenue for the first quarter is expected to be worse, forecast to decline 2.0 percent from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data. The biggest drag is expected to be energy companies suffering from the oil price collapse, but analysts have dropped projections in almost every sector as the earnings reporting season has unfolded. On Jan. 1, S&P 500 first-quarter earnings were forecast to rise 5.3 percent, including energy companies, and 10.5 percent excluding energy companies.

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