Investor and Issuer Engagement in Uncertain Times - Part 2
IHS Markit's Perception Analytics team engages in in-depth discussions with investors and analysts daily. Given recent market volatility and significant economic uncertainty, IHS Markit will be speaking to investors and analysts on a regular basis to assess how the current situation with COVID-19 is impacting their evaluations of and engagement with corporate issuers. Highlights include:
The Street is increasingly focused on companies' capital
management and balance sheet positioning.
"I hope most management teams are sitting down right
now and thinking about what they can do to preserve cash over the
next 3-6 months..."
Companies should emphasize how they are prepared to
react to the rapidly changing needs of their end customers.
"What happens in times like these is that
really innovative new approaches tend to gain share because people
are in a state of emergency."
A few suggest that IR should acknowledge the significant
uncertainty embedded in their guidance and future
performance.
"I find certainty right now to be a bit off-putting
because it is almost not credible.It is much easier to
have confidence in a management team that is saying 'Since we do
not know what the impact is going to be, we are not going to
speculate.'"
Interviewees highlight the value of IR remaining both
proactive and responsive during times of market turmoil.
"IR teams need to take advantage of anything they can
do in terms of being proactive with their communication, if and
when they have something to announce…"
IHS Markit's Perception team will continue to gather real-time market feedback as the situation unfolds, so please look out for the next part of this series.
Part 1 available to view here.
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This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.