The Q4 IR Success Newsletter: October Edition
Welcome to the October edition of the LinkedIn IR Success Newsletter. This month, we bring you a thought leadership piece from Q4's IR Director, Adam Papa , about how to prepare for Earnings Days, Market Intelligence from Q4's Paige Fox , Senior Surveillance Analyst, as well as Q4 news and highlights.
Thought Leadership
This month, Q4 IR Director, Adam Papa ,?discusses a comprehensive checklist to aid the meticulous preparation of IROs for success on earnings day
As we wrap up another volatile quarter in the equity markets and look ahead to the Q3 reporting season, we wanted to look behind the scenes to show how an Investor Relations Officer (IRO) prepares for a successful earnings day.
First, gather the financial data.
An IRO must work very closely with the finance and corporate accounting departments to gather financial data. The data needs to be reviewed, verified, and compiled into financial statements such as income statements, balance sheets, and other essential financial data. The IRO also plays a key role in working with Legal and External Reporting teams to ensure these statements are compliant with SEC regulations.
Create a communication strategy.
One of the primary responsibilities of Investor Relations(IR) is to ensure the company’s narrative is told in the best way possible. When it comes to earnings releases, the IRO should work closely with Senior management as well as Legal and Marketing/Communications to put together a comprehensive messaging plan. The IRO plays a pivotal role in determining what information will be disclosed and how the company will convey these messages to all stakeholders with an interest in the company. Clear and transparent communication is crucial to an IRO’s and the company's credibility.
Prepare investor materials.
Once the challenging task of gathering all the necessary financial data and finalizing the communication strategy, an IRO should prepare investor materials that will be shared with the market. In the lead-up to the earnings release, the IRO will create and review investor materials. This includes driving the process to draft a press release highlighting the company’s performance and other key financial data points.
In addition, one of the primary responsibilities of an IRO is to ensure the company executives are well-prepared for earnings day and to assist in preparing the management team for any questions that may arise from the sell-side or investors. The IRO should focus on gaining a deep understanding of the topics that will interest investors and summarize them into a Q&A prep document that can be used to run a rehearsal session with management to ensure readiness for the live call.
Did you think an IRO’s job was finished once the earnings conference call ended? Think again! In reality, the IRO's day is just beginning!
After an earnings call, the IRO continues to play a critical role in communications, ensuring the company messaging has been properly conveyed to the market's key stakeholders.
Coordinate follow-ups with investors.
An IRO typically coordinates follow-up calls with sell-side research analysts as well as institutional investors. This will involve answering any questions that weren’t answered during the Q&A of the conference call and providing any clarifications as needed. Accurate and timely communication with the street will help maintain the team's trust and credibility with the street. However, these follow-up conversations must be conducted under the requirements of Reg FD, so no new disclosures are intended to be made.
Conduct internal benchmarking and analysis.
An IRO works closely with the executive team to keep them updated on the financial impact of the earnings day. An IRO will help keep the management team updated on how the stock is performing and what the investor community and media are saying about the company's results. The IRO will often assess and recap the sell-side analyst’s reactions to provide to the executive team as well as to the Board of Directors. IROs also provide perspective on buy-side feedback received during post-earnings conversations. This feedback will help refine the ongoing messaging from the company.
Review the call and make sure the transcript is accurate.
An IRO should ensure the transcript is accurate and submit any corrections to the main data providers. An accurate transcript is key to making sure that investors and other stakeholders are able to review the details of the earnings call, particularly those who weren’t able to join the call or who are looking to review specific points made during the call. This allows everyone to have complete and accurate information about the financial performance of the company.
In conclusion, an IRO’s activities on earnings day and during the days leading into and following earnings can be quite eventful, but with the proper planning and execution, it can make for a successful outcome that can be re-iterated and perfected quarter after quarter.
Q4 News
Q4 Inc. (TSX: QFOR) is excited to share that it’s secured a place on the prestigious 2023 Report on Business of Canada’s Top Growing Companies list. This recognition comes as a testament to the company's remarkable growth, boasting an impressive three-year growth rate of 150%.
Canada’s Top Growing Companies, an editorial ranking launched in 2019, is dedicated to showcasing the accomplishments of innovative Canadian businesses. Participation in this esteemed program involves a rigorous application process and fulfilling specific criteria. This year's list features an impressive 425 companies that have demonstrated exceptional growth and innovation.
The complete list of 2023 winners, along with comprehensive editorial coverage, is available in the October issue of Report on Business magazine, also available to access online .
Dawn Calleja, Editor of Report on Business magazine, highlighted how Canada's Top Growing Companies recognizes the drive and ingenuity displayed by Canadian businesses, inspiring future entrepreneurs. Andrew Saunders, CEO of The Globe and Mail, noted that this year's list underscores how innovative ideas continue to thrive, especially in times of uncertainty.
The official press release on the announcement can be found here .
Q4 Webinar
The Changing Face of Activism and How to Respond
We hosted an insightful webinar on October 3rd, where industry experts discussed the dynamic world of shareholder activism, assessing how companies can effectively respond to these evolving challenges.
The landscape of shareholder activism is undergoing rapid transformation, necessitating companies to reevaluate their response strategies. With factors like the universal proxy, shifting economic dynamics, and heightened board and organizational expectations, it's crucial to stay ahead of potential distractions.
Discover how to proactively mitigate activism risks and engage with shareholders in preparation for the 2024 proxy season. Our esteemed panel, featuring John Nunziati , IR Partner at Q4, Joshua Black from Diligent , and Valmik Desai from Salesforce , delves into the evolving activism landscape during this conversation, highlighting the arsenal of tools available to proactively monitor and assess activist movements while also reviewing real-world case studies. Don't miss this opportunity to stay informed and prepared for the changing face of activism in IR.
Watch the complete webinar replay here.
Product Highlight
Revolutionizing IR analytics: Q4's consolidated Platform and enhanced Engagement Analytics
领英推荐
Q4 recently announced key enhancements to Engagement Analytics, making it the central hub for understanding investor behavior across Q4 Platform.
With these new capabilities, IR teams can:
Engagement Analytics continues to help IROs translate investor behavior that is captured on their IR website, events, and investor communications into actionable insights. This promotes more effective and efficient investor targeting and provides IR professionals with the means to assess the success of their IR program.
Market Intelligence
We connected with Paige Fox , Senior Surveillance Analyst at Q4, to get her thoughts on the current Market Environment
Q3 wrapped up last week with major indices ending the quarter in the red, marking the first quarterly decline since Q2’22. The DJIA gave up 2.6%, the S&P 500 fell 3.7%, and the rate-sensitive Nasdaq decreased 4.1%. A disappointing performance from markets in August and September is ultimately what will define Q3. However, we would be remiss to ignore the strength observed early in the quarter, with several major indices reaching year-to-date highs in July. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq even came within striking distance (approximately 5%) of their all-time highs.
Unfortunately, this optimism was unable to hold as markets embraced a risk-off sentiment throughout August and September, ultimately erasing July’s gains. The main bearish headwind driving markets lower throughout the back half of the quarter was centered around monetary policy and the trajectory of the Fed's path of rate hikes as investors became increasingly concerned that the Fed could not only continue to hike rates but also leave rates higher for longer.
In July, the FOMC voted to raise rates by 25 basis points, and in September, they opted to hold rates steady. Both moves were widely expected by the markets. Where the Fed came in more hawkish than anticipated was with the September dot plots, where they signaled that they expect to hike one more time in 2023, and indicated that the median expectation for 2024 rate cuts was 50 basis points, down from 100 basis points in June. This, in turn, caused weakness throughout treasuries causing the yield curve to increase sharply, with the 10-year rising by nearly 90 basis points, reaching its highest level since 2007.
Question of the Month
Last month we asked for your company’s approach to compliance with the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) which the European Union has implemented.
This month, we will address your perspective on quarterly quiet periods. Please choose the appropriate response for your organization.
My company’s policy for a quarterly quiet period most closely matches:
A. Limited or no investor interactions starting 2 weeks before the end of the quarter until the financial results have been released
B. Limited or no investor interactions starting 1 week before the end of the quarter until the financial results have been released
C. Limited or no investor interactions starting at the end of the quarter until the financial results have been released
We will share survey results on this question in our next monthly edition. Here are the results from the question we posed in the previous newsletter:
Your Q4 Roundup
In a Q4 case study about Zuora (NYSE: ZUO), a cloud-based provider of billing solutions, they share that despite having only two IR team members and using the Q4 Platform's CRM capabilities, they were able to greatly streamline tasks, establish more defined IR targeting cadences, and maintain a keen eye on market movements.
In this case study, groundbreaking healthcare solutions provider Revvity (NYSE: RVTY) outlines how Q4's CRM capabilities helped them have a clear understanding of their shareholder composition, track investor interactions, and target new investors.
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Thank you for reading the October edition of the LinkedIn IR Success Newsletter! We'll see you next month.
- Q4 IR Success Newsletter Team