According to an analysis by researchers at the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, the stock market has rewarded companies that have exited Russia. The team ranked roughly 1,000 companies based on how thoroughly they cut ties with Russia: the highest scores were given to firms that exited completely; the lowest to those that continued to operate.
On average, the shares of firms that withdrew completely went up by 3.6% between February 23rd (the day before Russia invaded Ukraine) and April 19th; those of companies that continued, as usual, lost 6.8%. The researchers found that this is held true for companies across sectors and regions and firms of different sizes.
Companies with small market capitalizations (under $2bn) that withdrew completely saw their share price increase by 8.7%, and those with large market capitalizations (above $10bn) saw it rise by 3.8%. The shares of comparable companies that did not exit declined by 10.6% and 6.9%, respectively.