Disclosure salience in earnings conference calls and investor information processing

Firms and third parties disclose a substantial amount of information during the earningsannouncement window. Managers can alleviate information processing costs for investors by presenting this information using a variety of formats. Using machine learning, I identify the use of data visualizations, tables, and text in earnings conference call slides. I examine the association between the format of the earnings call presentation and capital market outcomes (i.e., information asymmetry, market liquidity, retail investor processing costs, and retail trading consensus). I find three main results. First, the use of data visualizations in earnings conference calls is associated with decreases in information asymmetry and thus increases in market liquidity. Second, data visualizations in earnings conference calls are associated with lower investor processing costs, specifically for retail investors. Finally, I find no association between retail trading consensus and disclosure format types. Overall my results suggest that managers’ choices of disclosure formats in earnings conference calls can improve information saliency to reduce investors’ processing costs.