Özet:

The study aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial performance of Palestinian firms. The study uses secondary financial data from 15 firms that belong to the industrial, investment, and services sectors. The measurement of financial performance consists of calculating many financial ratios: current ratio, cash ratio, and average collection period as liquidity measures; debt to equity ratio as an indicator of leverage or solvency; net profit margin as an indicator of profitability. Using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and financial ratio analysis, the study compares ratios between the years 2018 and 2019 (pre the outbreak of COVID-19) and the years 2020 and 2021 (during the outbreak of COVID-19). The results indicate a significant decline in liquidity in the industrial and investment sectors and an improvement in liquidity in the service sector. The results also show a significant increase in debt in service sectors, while this ratio remains the same in other sectors. However, the profitability ratio does not show any significant difference before and during the outbreak of COVID-19. Finally, this study provides valuable evidence to regulators and decision-makers about the most affected sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Palestinian listed firms.