2Q 2020 earnings call sentiment points to early signs of recovery amidst Covid-19: Iridium Quant Lens Sentiment Index

- Covid-19 was a dominant theme during the year to date which materially impacted earnings call sentiment during 1Q 2020 earnings cycle, but recovered modestly in 2Q 2020

- The sentiment decline was widespread across all Gulf countries and the most impacted sectors were Consumer Discretionary and Real Estate

DUBAI, UAE/PRNewswire/ -- A new AI-powered analysis of GCC company earnings calls has detected early signs of recovery from the Covid-19 slump, according to a Sentiment Index launched by Iridium Advisors today. Iridium's Quant Lens algorithms analysed management, analyst and investor commentaries from quarterly earnings calls to calculate the new Sentiment Index.

Oliver Schutzmann, CEO of Iridium Advisors, said: "With the 2Q 2020 earnings cycle now behind us, Iridium Quant Lens has processed all available earnings call transcripts of GCC listed companies for the year to date. We are pleased to confirm that early signs of recovery were detected during the 2Q 2020 earnings cycle with a 7-point rise in sentiment to +9 points compared to the previous quarter. To put this into perspective, the Sentiment Index reading was +2 points for the 1Q 2020 reporting cycle, a 25-point decline from 4Q 2019 levels, and the lowest level observed over the last five years."

While the decline in the Sentiment Index in 1Q 2020 was widespread and felt almost equally across all Arabian Gulf countries, for the 2Q 2020 earnings cycle, it recovered in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, but continued to decline in Kuwait.

Iridium Quant Lens also found that not all sectors were equally impacted by Covid-19 during the last two reporting cycles. The Consumer Discretionary sector showed the largest drop in sentiment of 44 points in 1Q and 2Q 2020 combined. The next most affected sector was Real Estate, followed by the Energy, Communications and Financials sectors. During this period, sentiment for Consumer Staples and Utilities, being more defensively positioned against Covid-19 disruption, held up relatively well, with sentiment scores in 2Q 2020 at levels close to those at the beginning of the year.

The Iridium Quant Lens natural language processing (NLP) algorithm automates earnings call analysis by quantifying language at a scale and speed that is impossible to replicate by the human brain. To date, it has processed over 3.28 million words from more than 550 earnings call transcripts, representing 75% of the market capitalization of listed companies across eight stock exchanges in the GCC region. Iridium Quant Lens NLP algorithms generate unbiased insights from positive, neutral and negative sentiment expressed by management, analysts and investors, the language complexity used, as well as the number of financial metrics conferred during earnings calls.

To receive Iridium Quant Lens NLP information, Sentiment Index data and charts, please send an email to ir@iridium.ae. 

About Iridium Advisors

Iridium Advisors is a management consulting firm and the Middle East's leading advisor on investor relations. The company was founded in 2015 in Dubai on the belief that first-hand capital markets and in-house senior management experience are central to the process of converting business value into shareholder returns. Our results-oriented experts design, build and operate transformational investor relations programs that help organizations and leaders engage, transact and grow - whether they are healthy, challenged or distressed. For information visit www.iridiumadvisors.com.

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Media Contact
Ms. Pamela Chahine
Iridium Advisors DMCC
+971 4 429 5864
ir@iridium.ae 

© Press Release 2020