Anil Dilawri

Yesterday, following the announcement of quarterly results, I witnessed a company’s stock price rise 17% during the day.  You might be thinking to yourself that the results were quite good.  As a matter of fact, they weren’t.  The results were merely in line with a negative pre-announcement that the company made a few weeks earlier.  Nor was there any new information/data that came to light on the company’s conference call.

So what gives?  Why the 17% pop in company value?

The answer is “Tone”

While the financial results were not surprising, management’s “tone” on the conference call was deemed to be very positive when it came to topics such as deal pipeline and future profitability.

There’s a reason why analysts and investors listen to quarterly conference calls, even when the numbers are not so rosy.  The audience not only wants to hear what management says, but how they say it.

Quarterly financial calls are more than just prepared remarks and answering questions.  Members of management need to show confidence, strength, and optimism when presenting to analysts and shareholders.

So here’s a call to all executives to be aware of your tone when you are center stage.  It could be worth millions in market capitalization.