Wall Street is preparing for an earnings season like no other, offering investors insights into the damage wrought by coronavirus on the US’s biggest listed companies.

PepsiCo kicked things off on Monday with better than expected figures for the second quarter ending in June, showing that consumers snacking from home resulted in only a modest 3 per cent drop in net revenues from the same period a year earlier, and an 18 per cent fall in earnings per share.

But numbers elsewhere may be less nourishing for investors. S&P 500 companies are expected to unveil an overall 45 per cent plunge in quarterly profits, according to data provider FactSet — the biggest drop since the 69 per cent fall of the fourth quarter of 2008. All 11 of the US benchmark’s sectors are forecast to post declines.