Q4 Web Systems IR Best Practices: Earnings Webcasting

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Q4 Investor Relations Best Practices Whitepaper: Earnings Webcasting

Introduction

▪ IR departments in public companies are always thinking about their upcoming earnings call, and there have been changes in the way they prepare for and conduct their quarterly and annual earnings presentations.

▪ We will highlight the tools needed to successfully navigate the stages of an earnings call or presentation.

▪ Using statistics from last year’s earning webcasts, hosted by Q4 for its clients, we will provide the latest trends to give you an idea of what companies are doing.

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Earnings Statistics from Q4

Insight into how companies are currently running their earnings calls, and how investors are interacting, will be presented throughout this presentation.

The following few slides will also portray how some companies are currently running their earnings calls and how investors are interacting.

Some interesting highlights include what devices audiences are using, whether or not they are listening live and what their average listening time is.

Sample of the study

▪ Timeline: January 1st, 2014 - August 31st, 2014

▪ Total number of presentations surveyed: 264

▪ Total number of registrants: 76,641





Attendance

▪ For investors, listening in on the earnings call live is integral to making an informed investment decision.

▪ For analysts, missing out on a live call is completely out of the question because their valuation and research is dependent on being timely and accurate.

▪ Hence, the majority of those that registered for the presentation did listen in live.

▪ The archived presentation was also visited at some point after the live presentation. This reveals just how important it is for public companies to host archive presentations (and transcripts) on their IR website.



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Types of Presentation

▪ As demonstrated on the chart here, many companies opted to host an audio-only earnings call.

▪ This is because companies exclusively hold earnings calls over a conference call provider.

▪ Thus, most investors and analysts, as well as IROs, got used to the idea that an earnings call is only an audio experience.





Operating System

▪ Most company computers run on Windows, and most people who are listening to earnings webcasts are doing so from their office computer.

▪ The operating system data reveals the growing use of mobile devices that access the webcasts.

▪ These findings are outlined more clearly in the next slide.





Devices

▪ With mobile use of 6%, this may seem insignificant. However it amounts to approximately 5,000 people in Q4’s sample.

▪ These 5,000 users listened to the earnings call using mobile, and this is a material number.

▪ It is important to keep in mind the effect that mobile will have in the future, in terms of how people will access earnings presentations.





Live Video Earnings Presentations

Hosting a live video presentation is a great example of the whole scope of possibilities that the webcasting technology offers.

Advantages of Conducting Video vs. Hosting Earnings Call▪ Videos are more engaging from an audience perspective.

▪ Focus shifts from taking care of any technical glitches, to the actual content of the

results.

▪ Body language is key between the CFO and the CEO, making it easier for existing and

potential investors to follow the presentation.

▪ Charts and infographics are used for illustrating results, highlighting the company’s

growth.

▪ The next few slides will exemplify two most high profile cases of live video earnings presentations.





Live Video Earnings Presentations - Netflix

▪ As a video streaming platform, Netflix video-streams its earnings results rather than conducts an earnings call.

▪ Listeners are able to submit their questions to moderators via Twitter.

▪ Netflix CEO and CFO then answer some of the questions that have been submitted by listeners.

▪ This sheds light onto the importance of live-tweeting, which will be further discussed later.





Live Video Earnings Presentations – Yahoo!

▪ Yahoo! is also one of the companies that decided to make a switch from the conventional earnings call to live streaming as a webcast.

▪ Such examples exhibit an innovative approach to providing investors or analysts with information about a company’s earnings, and traditional earnings calls can presumably become a thing of the past at some point.





Earnings Best Practices

▪ From our experience working with clients during the lead-up/during/after stages of their earnings webcasts, we have become well versed in the steps any company has to make to ensure all the pieces fall into place and they have a successful and securing earnings.

▪ Before conducting an earnings webcast, ensure that you and your team are:

✓ Prepared

✓ Presenting a cohesive message that communicates what your earnings results mean for the future of the company

▪ The next few slides will offer a multitude of checklists, thoughts and real-world examples that can be applied to host a successful earnings webcast.





Earnings Best Practices – Preparation

▪ Establish presenters

✓ When picking a presenter, it is important to keep in mind who best conveys the message.

✓ Also keep in mind the person’s position in the company, as it has huge implications on how people perceive the presentation.

✓ Having the IRO be the presenter for instance makes sense, as they are the most public facing figure to the investors.

✓ Specific financial milestones can be handled by the CFO.





Earnings Best Practices – Preparation

▪ Dry run presentation and possible Q&A topics

✓ Prior to the presentation, it is best practice to have a number of dry runs to ensure that everyone is comfortable with the script/presentation.

✓ Prior to the presentation, it is also a good idea to have the presenters go over their lines to review content.

✓ This provides a chance to interact with the content and enhance any of the messaging.

✓ On the day of the presentation, it is best to conduct another dry run with the webcast provider. This helps with familiarity of the tools before going live.





Spreading the Word

▪ In conjunction with preparing for an earnings webcast, it is important to focus on getting the word out.

▪ There are a multitude of channels available, and the potential reach of webcasting notices have never been higher.

▪ The important thing is to use these channels to the extent of their abilities in order to maximize their impact, as well as reach the widest possible audience.

▪ In the next few slides, we will share some examples of what today’s publicly traded companies are doing to get the word out on their upcoming earnings call.





Quiet Period Tweet – Johnson Controls

▪ Quiet period was implemented to ensure that all messaging and content is kept confidential until the earnings call or webcast is conducted.

▪ Like Johnson Controls, which has its own Twitter page for its IR Communications, it is integral to declare quiet period so that the audience is aware of the reason the account is inactive.

▪ It is also a great opportunity to encourage readers to learn more about disclosure policy.


https://twitter.com/JCI_IR/status/478516300457598976




Tweet Announcing Earnings Presentation Date - Nestle

▪ Sending out notes about the upcoming earnings presentation ahead of the event is important.

▪ For Nestle, all of the essential information for investors to attend is present in the tweet. They also provide a link to their events page that will give their followers a look at the speaker format of the event, along with registration details.

▪ Nestle also establishes a number of hashtags as well as their own “cashtag” that will be a part of their earnings presence on Twitter.


https://twitter.com/Nestle_IR/status/522389439071662080




Press Releases - Nike

▪ Traditional press releases are still the best way to notify the market of an impending conference call.

▪ Nike does an excellent job of providing a short press release that highlights the basic details that investors need to know in order to attend the presentation.

▪ Readers can easily scan the page to get the important details they need to know before the event.


http://investors.nike.com/default.aspx?SectionId=5cc5ecae-6c48-4521-a1ad-480e593e4835&LanguageId=1&PressReleaseId=4000bd89-5dca-45ba-8291-ab797314de2f




Website Earnings - Dupont

▪ It is important to upload earnings information on the company website.

▪ This is key because it adds functionality and flexibility in terms of presenting the content.

▪ In addition, adding an events section will allow investors to add any event to their personal calendars.

▪ Supplying investors with important material like press releases and past earnings will help them review content prior to the webcast.





Registration Page - YuMe

▪ The last bit of information that a user is going to see before they complete their registration for the event is the registration page.

▪ For most companies, the registration page is a simple landing page with a form, collecting basic information.

▪ Then, users can send them the information to sign in on the webcast, and a reminder email is sent.






▪ After the form has been completed, users will be prompted to a landing page.

▪ This confirms the date of the event, and allows users to test the system and download the necessary programs to take part in the event.






▪ Finally, an email alert should be sent out with a link to the webcast, restating the time and date, and offering an “add to calendar” functionality.

▪ All of these steps ensure a smooth registration process that will help investors keep track of events, and guarantee that nothing gets missed.





Registration Page - Checklist Used by Q4’s CSS Team

▪ On Registration page - Audience URL

✓ Correct client logo is used in the upper left-hand corner

✓ Correct title for webcast

✓ Correct time and time zone for the event

✓ Correct “title” (i.e. First Quarter, Second Quarter, etc.) appears in the upper right

✓ Register for event to check if the message shows the correct time and time zone

for the event





Test Test Test▪ There are various areas of the webcast that need to be tested prior to going live.

▪ Particularly when using slides, testing is vital to the process. Slides can make a huge splash with investors in real time, especially when they are equipped with graphs and visuals.

▪ However, having those images available to a certain segment before another or not being viewable when planned can be hugely detrimental, and may put the company at risk for unfair disclosure.

▪ Here is a checklist to consider before conducting the live webcast:

✓ Reminder email before webcast check

✓ Registration Link

✓ Audio

✓ Visual (presentation slides, video content)

✓ Extra tools (Q&A features, PDF download)

✓ Mobile version





During Live Webcast ▪ During the live webcast, both technical and content issues may arise at any time.

▪ It is thus important to have multiple people on the line listening/watching in—this is also important so that they can gage the reaction to the call/presentation.

▪ For technical issues:✓ Sound quality: is the sound hard to hear? Is there any break up on the line?

✓ Visuals: Is everything moving along at the proper rate? Are the visuals matching up?

✓ Listen to your channels: Check Twitter, Google, Q&A module to see what people are saying about the webcast.

▪ Sentiment Issues ✓ During the webcast, it is important to look outside the webcasting environment to get a feel

for how the presentation is going.

✓ Having someone who is listening in and checking social channels, as well financial media sites, is necessary.





Live-Tweeting - FedEx

▪ FedEx does a great job of tweeting key information and providing links to this information from the earnings call for instance.

▪ Twitter is a great place to highlight the news and metrics you want people to hear about the most.

▪ Certainly, it is the channel with the largest possible reach, also making it the noisiest.

▪ Companies like FedEx provide its audience with all the necessary information and resources, making use of Twitter even during their live earnings call.





After-Webcast - Voya

▪ Post earnings call, Voya for example upload earnings-related material on a single section of their website, making it easy for investors to review.

▪ This enhances their investors’ research experience and allows them to better communicate key messages presented during the earnings call/webcast.

▪ It also gives them a chance to revisit the topics that were discussed and shared, which is incredibly important when culling together investment research.


http://investors.voya.com/




Press Releases - GM▪ After the earnings call is

completed, another way to highlight key messages is through press releases.

▪ GM uses press releases to highlight the major metrics and announcements from the call.

▪ Those who missed the call/webcast would thus be able to pull a clear synopsis of events from the press release—reinforcing and spreading the messaging.

▪ GM, as is the case with Voya, also link their collateral together by adding resources from the presentation to the press release.





Further Social – Coca-Cola

▪ Using Twitter post an earnings call is also another great way to heighten investor communications.

▪ Coca-Cola for instance highlights their CEO’s contribution to their earnings presentation.

▪ Using an #earnings hashtag, they have made it easily identifiable to their Twitter audience that the post pertains to their earnings.





Event Archive ChecklistBelow is a helpful checklist that includes a short list of all the collateral to be added to the website, once the earnings call/webcast is completed.

This checklist can also be used across multiple platforms, furthering the reach and engagement within investor community.

▪ Adding to website - webcast replay

✓ Past events section

✓ Transcript

✓ Presentation deck

✓ Info regarding presenters

✓ Highlights section

▪ Email to registrants letting them know archive is available.

▪ Press Release

▪ Push main messaging through social.





Conclusion

▪ As stated at the beginning of this study, our goal was to share the knowledge and tools needed to help navigate the different stages of an earnings webcast.

▪ The idea of presenting your work to hundreds (in some cases, thousands) of people on a quarterly basis is a daunting thing to consider.

▪ The method of crafting the quarter’s results and presenting them to an audience is what is integral to their decision-making process.

▪ In the end, what makes the webcast of your earnings so important is that it is your company’s opportunity to put its stamp on a specific fiscal period.

▪ That is an important message and you want to make sure that all the work and thought that goes into crafting that message finds the largest possible audience.




Technology

Q4 Web Systems IR Best Practices: Earnings Webcasting