If You Hear Big Words on an Earnings Call, Get Ready for Bad News
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Feeling queasy as a chief executive steps up the fancy talk when discussing results? With good reason.
A study of conference calls by S&P Global found the average length of sentences and the proportion of polysyllabic words employed was higher for firms disclosing negative news, such as an earnings miss. Those with higher levels of complexity in their language took fewer questions from analysts, the examination of second-quarter calls found.