These 5 companies and product categories could see a hit from the coronavirus outbreak

Regis Duvignau/Reuters

One subset of luxury goods that seems set to endure some pain over the coronavirus outbreak is the alcohol category. 

UBS’ February 3 note on the coronavirus found that the brands Brown-Forman, Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Rémy Martin are “most exposed” to a dip in travel retail. 

“We expect the coronavirus to compound recent weakness in Asia Duty Free that resulted from unrest in Hong Kong,” the UBS analysts wrote.

Moody’s analysts also wrote in a February 4 note that the spread of the disease will “curb Chinese consumption” of European packaged alcoholic beverages “in what is one of the world’s largest markets.” Compounding the negative impact is the fact that the virus started during the  Lunar New Year, which Moody’s said was “one of the busiest periods for alcoholic beverage consumption” in China.