Abernathy MacGregor's "Q2 Financial Reporting During COVID-19: Still Far from Routine" offers heaps of sound practical guidance for Q2 (or next quarter, depending on your fiscal year) earnings calls.
Among the "do's" are:
- For those many companies that have suspended guidance, among other things, watch your peers and listen to your investors to determine when to resume traditional guidance.
- Given how rapidly conditions are changing - including as to reinstating opening restrictions in response to the uptick in infections in certain areas, speak to the "now," not just the preceding quarter.
- Resist the temptation to preview results - a practice that made sense for many companies last quarter given the timing relative to the onset of the pandemic, but which should no longer be necessary given the abundance of information in the marketplace.
- Provide investors more visibility into expected increased, reduced, recurring, and new costs over the longer term, as well as projected long-term impacts including, e.g., remote working trends, strategic opportunities, etc.
- Call preparations should take into account a more extensive audience than was the case historically, which may include employees, regulators, customers, and business partners.
See "Covid-19: The impact on guidance, buybacks and dividends in the S&P 1500" (IR Magazine) and additional resources on our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources page under Disclosure / Communications. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!