IR papers: Piercing the fog of reporting obfuscation

Corporate managers may employ a variety of tools to reduce the share price effect of bad news. During disappointing quarterly earnings calls, one popular tactic is the liberal use of forward-looking qualitative disclosures such as: ‘We believe our year-over-year revenue growth will accelerate.’ Now a new study shows investors see through this kind of obfuscation – but only gradually. An analysis of the prepared remarks section of more than 60,000 US earnings call transcripts reveals a strong