, /PRNewswire/ — Securities Analytics Research (SAR), a data analytics company specialized in the securities litigation risk of U.S. public companies, today published the U.S. Securities Litigation Risk Report – 1H 2026.
According to the semi-annual report, single-firm event study analyses on 11,557 corporate disclosures from a population of 4,648 U.S. public companies, indicate that NYSE and NASDAQ issuers exhibited approximately $17.4 trillion in market capitalization losses during the two-year period ending June 30, 2026. These losses reflect the cumulative, statistically significant single-day stock price declines associated with High-Risk Adverse Corporate Events (“ACEs”) identified and analyzed through the proactive and uniform application of the court-approved event study methodology.
SAR’s verifiably independent event study analyses on the universe of corporate disclosures involving both public statements and filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) over the same trading session indicate that both average frequency and aggregate severity of High-Risk ACEs increased by 1.86% and 23.4%, respectively, relative to the two-year period ending December 31, 2025.
“Our data confirm that U.S. public companies are facing a demonstrable increase of $3.3 trillion, or 23.4%, in securities litigation risk based on the frequency and severity of high-risk adverse corporate events over the past six months. Notably, the IT sector alone accounts for nearly a third of this quantum,” said Nessim Mezrahi, Co-Founder and CEO of SAR.
According to the report, eight of the eleven GICS® sectors exhibited an increase in the frequency of High-Risk ACEs during the first half of the year. In the aggregate, U.S. public companies face an increase of $3.29 billion in the two-year market capitalization loss accumulation relative to December 31, 2025. On average, market capitalization losses per High-Risk ACE have increased by $267.4 million, or 21.6%, over the preceding six months.
As of June 30, 2026, nearly 62% of U.S. securities litigation risk was embedded in the Financials, Health Care, and Information Technology sectors. Real Estate, Energy, and Financials saw the largest percentage increases in the average frequency of High-Risk ACEs during the preceding six months, at 21.8%, 16.0%, and 10.8%, respectively. Information Technology, Financials, and Health Care exhibited the greatest increase in market capitalization losses linked to High-Risk ACEs with $1,588.98, $738.75, and $289.16 billion respectively.
Health Care exhibited the highest median SAR Risk Score® at 27.55%, followed by Consumer Discretionary at 24.57%, and Consumer Staples at 24.45%. Information Technology continues to face the greatest market capitalization losses per High-Risk ACE, amounting to $3.39 billion, followed by Communication Services and Consumer Staples with $2.48 and $1.79 billion, respectively.
This independent, semi-annual U.S. equity risk management research report presents an appendix with the median SAR Risk Score® across all GICS® groups, industries, and sub-industries. The SAR Platform® equips users with the near real-time quantification of securities litigation risk with transparency at the corporate disclosure level and the probability of facing a securities class action lawsuit for companies listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ.
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SOURCE SAR
