Based on its study of Tesla’s Q4 2018 and Q1 2019 earnings calls, this report from Say provides insight into how this new platform (reported on here) is changing the earnings call experience for retail investors, who are tending to focus much more on products and the consumer experience than traditional earnings call participants - and the spillover effect on analysts, who are then keying off of retail investor questions to delve into new topics outside their traditional areas of inquiry.
The graphics below also illustrate the differences in perspective and focus among Tesla's participating retail investors (Figure 2) vs. participating institutional investors (Figure 3) based on the questions they submitted on the Say platform for Tesla's Q1 2019 call:
As shown, institutional investor questions (5 institutional investors/$185M in shares) were ESG- and product-focused (40% and 60%, respectively). In contrast, retail holder interests (714 retail shareholders/~$50M in shares) were more varied, with very little focus (4.7%) on ESG matters. Retail investor focus on Tesla's Q4 2018 call (462 participating) was comparable, with product inquiries representing the largest piece of the pie at 46%, followed by financial at 25%, consumer experience at 22%, and ESG at 7%.
Stay tuned as we continue to learn and share insights from this new mode of retail holder engagement.
Access additional information & resources on our Individual (Retail) Investors page. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!