U.S. Firms Brace for Currency Wallop

U.S. companies that sell goods and services abroad are bracing for a big hit in the current quarter, as the beaten-down yen and euro threaten to take big bites out of sales.

Large U.S. companies disclosed more than $50 billion in losses related to currency swings last year, compared with $22 billion in gains the previous year, according to data from FiREapps, a currency-risk-management consulting firm.

This year the outlook is for more such losses. The euro hit a 14-week low against the dollar on Monday as Cyprus weighed a bailout deal from the European Commission, the European Central Bank …