“You’re dumb” was said in 1,000 percent more calls between executives and investors in 2020 compared to 2019.
December 29, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic released a new dictionary in 2020, and it appears that the American company started speaking a new language overnight. In conversations between executives and investors, there were a number of words and phrases used to describe the … unprecedented moment we were all in. These are some of the terms that have skyrocketed in use this year based on more than 20,000 corporate presentations we analyzed with Sentieo, a research company. (Surprisingly, executives swore as much as they did last year.)
“Unprecedented Times”
Mentioned in 2,128 calls this year up from 3 last year
+ 70,830%
“These are unprecedented times. Much of our reopening is not just our decision. We are not in full control. ” Christine McCarthy, CFO of the Walt Disney Company September 9th
“Challenging”
14,655 calls versus 8,528
+ 70%
“We have never been in a challenging environment.” Larry Culp Jr., CEO of General Electric 28th of October
“Vacation”
1,283 calls around Nov.
+ 4,180%
“Technical difficulties”
526 calls vs. 129
+ 310%
“(Strong expression)”
100 calls against 101
No change
“So expanding the shelter on site – or frankly I would call it the forcible detention of people in their homes against all of their constitutional rights – but that’s my opinion – and breaking people’s freedoms in terrible and wrong ways not why people came to America or built this country. What the (expletive). Excuse me. It’s outrage. It’s an outrage. ” Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla April 29
Source: Sentieo • Figures come from transcripts of investor calls for all companies listed on the US stock exchange. Prevalence is measured by the number of transcripts that contain a phrase, not all of the individual mentions. Data as of December 28th. • Illustration from the New York Times