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No one needs more worries about earnings calls, what with questions about the quality of cash-equivalents on the balance sheet, for example, now joining the standard list for which managers must prepare. But a couple of new causes of concern this past Saturday landed on CFOs' doorsteps — literally.
First, the tale of a phantom analyst from the aptly named, but alas mythical "Gutterman Research," burst from the Wall Street Journal's page one. (See www.wsj.com; paid subscription required.) It seems that someone getting past company operators under false pretenses — posing as an analyst on the pre-approved caller list — has then been jumping in as Gutterman's "Jim Herrick," droning on with unanswerable queries in "consultant speak," often loosely citing Six Sigma, and usually after stroking the CEO and CFO for "solid numbers," and "always [coming] through in challenging times."
Newell Rubbermaid, Molson Coors Brewing, slot-machine maker WMS Industries, Dean Foods, and Pepsico were among the hoax victims recently. After Pepsi CEO (and former CFO) Indra Nooyi was hit with several annoying Gutterman questions in her call, a concerned Coca-Cola finance chief Gary Fayard asked extra questions of a Banc of America Securities analyst during Coke's call, to assure that he was "who you say you are."
In fact, Coke and Pepsi now have engaged in something of an earnings-call security war — along with their various other wars — about which company can install the best password measures for ascertaining that callers are legitimate. Other companies are taking similar measures to avoid having calls disrupted.
At General Electric, the same Journal notes on page B4, some concerns may be raised by a more reputable analyst outfit: Morgan Stanley.
Morgan Stanley's London analysts, it seems, have been rating GE's performance on the basis of how frequently CEO Jeffrey Immelt and CFO Keith Sherin use the word "great" in answering investor questions. The more often Immelt and Sherin describe things as great, the higher the earnings that lie ahead. (GE took Morgan Stanley's use of the new "metric" lightly, joking that it was "great, great, great news for GE Investors.")
But both stories do suggest that it's a good idea for CFOs to be more conscious of both sides of the conference call: the questions being asked, and the answers given.
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