Save The Date: Analyst/Investor Days as a Trading Signal - Olga Kolokolova, University of Lancaster

Event Date: 12 March 2025

Speaker: Olga Kolokolova, University of Lancaster

Venue: Strathclyde Business School, Cathedral Wing, CW406B

Time: 2pm

Abstract:

Firms use analyst/investor (A/I) days, a relatively new disclosure channel, to share insights into their strategic vision and operational performance. A/I days represent a form of voluntary disclosure, the timing and format of which are entirely determined by the hosting firm. Consequently, firms are more inclined to employ this channel when they have positive news to share or seek to reduce uncertainty about their financial or economic position. Interactive disclosure events represent a valuable source of corporate information for analysts and investors. While previous research has focussed on earnings conference calls and more recently on conference presentations, research on A/I days is relatively sparse. A recent A/I day has attracted considerable attention from analysts and capital market participants: Tesla’s highly-anticipated first A/I day on March 1st, 2023 was met with disappointment by market participants and resulted in a 7% drop in its share price the next day, highlighting the economic significance of the information conveyed during the event. In this paper, we investigate if scheduling of A/I days and information signals conveyed through them can be exploited as trading signals under realistic investment scenarios. There exists substantial literature discussing the reasons for such voluntarily disclosure and documenting that new information is being released during such events. Yet, to the best of our knowledge, it has not been attempted to formulate a trading strategy that exploits such information. In this paper we aim to fill this gap.

Published: 18 March 2025