A2 · ElementaryAdapted from Expansión

Profits & Stocks: What Happens at Year-End?

Beneficios y Bolsa: ¿qué pasa al final del año?

Sep 19, 20261 min readGraded Spanish · word-by-word audio

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Las grandes empresas de la Bolsa española llegan al final del año con beneficios fuertes.

A pesar de la subida de la bolsa, una veintena de empresas todavía tiene un recorrido de entre el 5% y el 50%. Las pocas compañías que bajan ofrecen descuentos importantes. Algunas de las que suben aún tienen un potencial de más del 20%.

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Watch out, English speaker

Spanish uses estar + present participle (gerundio) to express ongoing actions, while English uses the present continuous with 'to be' + -ing. The trap is that English speakers often try to use ser instead of estar, but ser + gerundio is not used for progressive aspect in Spanish. Always use estar for ongoing actions. Another common mistake is forming the gerundio incorrectly. In Spanish, -ar verbs become -ando and -er/-ir verbs become -iendo, but English speakers might default to the infinitive or use the English -ing form. Also, watch out for irregular gerunds like 'vendiendo' from vender, which follows the regular pattern, but verbs like 'ir' have 'yendo'. English speakers often forget that the present participle in Spanish is not used as an adjective or noun as freely as in English. For example, 'expandiendo' cannot be used as 'expanding' in 'expanding business' – you need a relative clause or a different construction. Stick to the progressive structure with estar.

Key vocabulary

beneficiom.
profit, benefit
“Las grandes empresas llegan al final del año con beneficios fuertes.”— Large companies reach the end of the year with strong profits.
Pattern beneficios fuertes strong profits
Compare ganancia f. earnings
plural beneficios
💡 From Latin beneficium, ben- (good) + fic- (do), meaning 'the benefit brought by doing good deeds'.
acciónf.
stock, share; action
“Sus acciones tienen un saldo positivo.”— Their stocks have a positive balance.
Pattern acciones de la bolsa stock market shares
Compare título m. security
plural acciones
💡 In financial contexts it means 'stock'; in everyday contexts it means 'action'.
expandirv.
to expand, to grow
“Muchas empresas están expandiendo su negocio.”— Many companies are expanding their business.
Pattern expandir el negocio expand the business
Compare ampliar v. to expand
Present: expando, expandes, expande...
💡 From Latin expandere, ex- (outward) + pandere (spread out).
activom.
asset
“Muchas empresas están vendiendo activos.”— Many companies are selling assets.
Pattern venta de activos sale of assets
Compare bien m. property
plural activos
💡 In accounting it means 'asset'; as an adjective it means 'active'.
subidaf.
rise, increase
“A pesar de la subida de la bolsa, hay oportunidades.”— Despite the stock market rise, there are opportunities.
Pattern la subida de la bolsa the stock market rise
Compare aumento m. increase
plural subidas
💡 From the verb subir (to rise), -ida is a noun suffix.
recorridom.
room, upside potential
“Una veintena de empresas tiene un recorrido del 5% al 50%.”— About twenty companies have upside potential of 5% to 50%.
Pattern tener recorrido to have upside potential
Compare margen m. room
plural recorridos
💡 Originally meaning 'distance traveled'; in finance it is extended to mean 'upside potential'.
potencialm.
potential
“Algunas tienen un potencial de más del 20%.”— Some have potential of more than 20%.
Pattern tener potencial to have potential
Compare capacidad f. ability
plural potenciales
💡 From Latin potentialis, meaning 'having the ability to do something'.
descuentom.
discount
“Las compañías que bajan ofrecen descuentos importantes.”— Companies that go down offer significant discounts.
Pattern ofrecer descuentos to offer discounts
Compare rebaja f. markdown
plural descuentos
💡 From the verb descontar (to deduct), des- (remove) + contar (count).

Grammar spotlight

estar + present participle (progressive)

This structure expresses an action in progress. It is formed with the correct present-tense form of estar plus the present participle (-ando for -ar verbs, -iendo for -er/-ir verbs).

“Muchas de estas empresas están expandiendo su negocio.”— Many of these companies are expanding their business.

⚠️ Don't forget that estar must agree with the subject, e.g. están, not está.

Sentence patterns to steal

Las grandes empresas llegan al final del año con beneficios fuertes.
Large companies reach the end of the year with strong profits.
subject + llegar a + place/time + con + nounYou can replace llegar with entrar, and beneficios with resultados, etc.
A pesar de la subida, una veintena de empresas tiene recorrido.
Despite the rise, about twenty companies still have room to grow.
A pesar de + noun, + clauseYou can replace subida with crisis, and empresas with acciones, etc.
Algunas de las que suben aún tienen un potencial de más del 20%.
Some of those that are rising still have more than 20% upside potential.
Algunas de las que + verb + aún tienen + nounYou can replace suben with bajan, and potencial with recorrido, etc.

The Spanish Stock Market and the IBEX 35

Spain's most important stock market index is the IBEX 35, which includes the 35 most liquid Spanish companies. It is often used to measure the overall performance of the Spanish stock market. At the end of the year, investors look at corporate profits and share price trends to assess the market.

Source: Wikipedia IBEX 35

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