IoT Analytics launched the This autumn/2024 outcomes of their quarterly firm earnings name evaluation.
This evaluation is predicated on a complete dataset of over 8,000 earnings calls from ~4,000 international firms listed within the U.S. in This autumn 2024 and Q3 2024. CEO discussions had been targeted on tariffs that noticed the very best spike since Q3 2019, reshoring and nearshoring made noticeable climbs in discussions, and agentic AI turned the brand new trending matter. In the meantime, matters resembling AI and generative AI and sustainability decreased.
Key insights:
In response to the newest “What CEOs talked about” report, three themes gained noticeable traction in This autumn 2024: 1) tariffs, 2) reshoring, and three) agentic AI.
Discussions relating to AI continued to say no; nonetheless, agentic AI considerably climbed in mentions.
Regardless of latest catastrophic hurricanes, flooding, and winter storm occasions, sustainability-related matters declined in mentions quarter-over-quarter and have been trending downward since Q1 2022.
Choose quotes:Philipp Wegner, Principal Analyst at IoT Analytics, feedback that:
“The US election and potential tariffs were front and center during earnings calls in Q4 2024. While most executives emphasized that their companies are prepared for tariffs, conversations showed significant underlying concerns.”
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US elections take heart stage in This autumn 2024. On 5 November 2024, the US held presidential elections, with Donald Trump successful and Republicans taking each the Home and Senate. The election’s impression was on the forefront of many CEOs’ minds in This autumn 2024—earlier than and after election day—with the time period climbing 58% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) to 38% of company earnings calls. That is the primary time since Q2 2022 {that a} matter has appeared greater than financial considerations like inflation. Even discussions round President-elect Donald Trump rose 230% QoQ to 0.7% of earnings calls.
Commerce coverage drastically climbs in mentions. Stemming from the election, the mentions of each commerce coverage and commerce battle climbed 250% QoQ in mentions to 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. With these, the subject of tariffs climbed 98% QoQ to 13% of discussions (extra on this under).
Key CEO quote on the election: “Many events are scheduled to come, including the U.S. presidential election in November, and we believe that things will change irreversibly at a faster pace than we can imagine.” – Takao Kato, CEO, Mitsubishi Motors Company, November 3, 2024
Inflation discussions maintain regular whereas uncertainty rises. Other than the election, financial considerations remained probably the most prevalent theme in boardroom discussions in This autumn 2024. Mentions of inflation declinedslightly (-1.4% QoQ) in comparison with round 33.5% of calls, whereas the subject of uncertainty rose 13.5% QoQ to 23% of earnings calls, and rates of interest discussions rose 8% QoQ to 27%. After seeing a spike in Q3 2024, mentions of recession dropped sharply in This autumn 2024, falling practically 40% QoQ to three% of calls.
Key CEO quote on the macroenvironment: “Some macro things that are getting [] more clear now. We now have the elections behind. We have interest rates coming down, inflation is under control.” – Juan Urthiague, CFO, Globant S.A., November 14, 2024
“The combination of geopolitical tension and economic uncertainty has suppressed large ticket purchases, which tend to correlate with industrial markets such as steel, glass and chemicals.” – Sanjiv Lamba, CEO, Linde plc, October 31, 2024
“You could easily argue that this uncertainty out of the system and that will be positive in the US but then maybe you have the opposite effect in the in EMEA and APAC.” – Oliver Steil, TeamViewer SE, November 9, 2024
Key rising themes in This autumn
1. Tariffs
Key CEO quotes on the tariffs: “I would say, first and foremost, whatever happens in tariffs will be an industry-wide impact, it won’t discriminate against different retailers and distributors who are importing goods.” – Ted Decker, CEO, The Dwelling Depot, Inc., November 12, 2024
“So quite frankly, additional tariffs, I believe, will help strengthen the North American manufacturing and is going to be a big positive for us.” – Henry Kaiser, CEO, Kaiser Aluminum Corp., October 24, 2024
2. Reshoring
CEOs mentioned reshoring and nearshoring greater than earlier than. The matters of reshoring and nearshoring made noticeable climbs in discussions, reaching all-time highs since IoT Analytics started monitoring earnings calls. This is available in gentle of the US election and the rise in commerce coverage discussions; nonetheless, not all discussions relating to reshoring and nearshoring revolved across the election. Some mentioned the doable advantages of reshoring methods, and others mentioned tangential advantages, like an increase in development work to construct the factories. Nonetheless, it does seem that the election helped increase these matters in This autumn 2024.
Key CEO quotes on reshoring/nearshoring: “I think that with a Trump administration, it’s probably more likely that you’ll see onshoring, possibly even nearshoring.” – Aaron Halfacre, CEO, Modiv Industrial Inc., November 6, 2024
“Similarly, Mexico also benefiting like India from the nearshoring, reshoring strategies that people are deploying.” – Sanjiv Lamba, CEO, Linde plc, November 3, 2024
“The reshoring trend is driving a rapid increase in semiconductor-related construction work.” – Juan Santamaría Instances, CEO, HOCHTIEF AG, November 8, 2024
3. Agentic AI
In Q1 2023, it was ChatGPT, which burst into the scene following its public launch in November 2022, bringing with it an increase typically AI discussions.
In Q3 2023, it was generative AI as a broader time period, however only a quarter later, it began to drop in mentions.
By Q1 2024, ChatGPT and generative AI had turn into distant of their share of earnings calls (with generative AI taking the lead), and hardware-related AI matters like GPU, NVIDIA, and knowledge facilities began gaining traction in Q2 2024.
Final quarter, sensible AI functions like course of automation, conversational AI, digital twin, and predictive upkeep had sharp climbs as different AI matters misplaced steam or declined in mentions.
Now, in This autumn 2024, the brand new rising star is agentic AI, a sort of AI system that autonomously makes choices, takes actions, and adapts to altering conditions with minimal human intervention—like an agent. The subject jumped 250% QoQ to 0.6% of earnings calls, just like ChatGPT’s mentions, although it dropped 39% QoQ (extra on ChatGPT and different AI matters under).Whether or not agentic AI shall be simply one other AI fad stays to be seen, however CEOs look like agency believers within the know-how (with some showing to consider it might have a serious impression on society).
Key CEO quotes on agentic AI: “And of course, we’re starting to see enterprise adoption of agentic AI really is the latest rage.” – Jensen Huang, CEO, NVIDIA, November 20, 2024“With the recent conversations around agentic AI, we have begun embedding agent capabilities across our copilots. We believe this agentic vision of AI will be hugely impactful in security, and we’re moving swiftly to adopt that into our product.” – Nikesh Arora, CEO, Palo Alto Networks, November 20, 2024
“We’ve created this incredible agentic layer around the whole company. And this is just the beginning of a complete digital transformation for the world. On top of the agentic layer, we’ll soon see a robotic layer as well, where these agents will manifest into robots. And how all this is going to change society is only visible today in the movies or in our imaginations, but we can see it unfolding right here through this company, Salesforce.” – Marc Benioff, CEO, Salesforce,December 3, 2024
Declining themes in This autumn
1. AI and generative AI
AI and associated matters proceed to say no QoQ. Whereas agentic AI noticed a serious bounce in mentions, different AI matters declined of their mentions in This autumn 2024 earnings calls:
AI: Down 6% QoQ to 33.4% of calls
Generative AI: Down 25% QoQ to five.2% of calls
Copilot: Down 41% to 1.4% of calls
Chatbot: Down 32% to 0.9% of calls
ChatGPT: Down 39% to 0.7% of calls
Mentions of AI down in less-tech-focused industries. CEO discussions relating to AI stay sturdy within the know-how sector (74% of calls) and communication providers (59% of calls). Nonetheless, mentions of it dropped considerably in a number of sectors the place know-how shouldn’t be a part of the core enterprise mannequin:
Actual property: Down 43% QoQ
Monetary providers: Down 26% QoQ
Shopper cyclical: Down 17% QoQ
AI inside hanging distance of inflation in mentions. Although down in mentions, AI inched nearer to passing mentions of inflation and changing into probably the most mentioned matter by CEOs—assuming discussions about elections will decline beginning in Q1 2025. In This autumn 2024, mentions of AI had been 0.2 proportion factors behind inflation (down from 1.4 proportion factors in Q3 2024).
2. Sustainability
Sustainability mentions slide amid catastrophic climate occasions and COP29. In This autumn 2024, mentions of sustainability dropped 9.3% QoQ to 16.8% of earnings calls, even because the second half of 2024 witnessed a number of important climate-related occasions, most notably:
Hurricane Helene in late September 2024,
Spanish floods in late October 2024
The November 2024 (US) Pacific Northwest Bomb Cyclone in late November 2024
The decline additionally got here as representatives from practically 200 international locations met in Baku, Azerbaijan, for COP29 all through mid-November 2024 to debate local weather change points. The convention ended with an settlement to supply at the least $300 billion a 12 months to growing international locations to assist their efforts with local weather change.
Sustainability trending downward. Since peaking in Q1 2022 at 26.6% of earnings calls, mentions of sustainability have fluctuated up and down each quarter. Nonetheless, the overall development has been a decline, with mentions now 10 proportion factors decrease than the height.
What it means for CEOs
5 key questions that CEOs ought to ask themselves based mostly on the insights on this article:
Election impression: How would possibly the outcomes of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, significantly commerce coverage shifts and potential tariffs, straight have an effect on our enterprise operations, provide chain, and income streams?
Tariff preparedness: Are we adequately ready for the potential imposition of recent tariffs on imports or exports that have an effect on our business? Ought to we take into account reshoring or diversifying suppliers to mitigate these dangers?
Reshoring technique: Would investing in reshoring or nearshoring present a aggressive benefit for our firm? What can be the cost-benefit of relocating manufacturing nearer to key markets?
Agentic AI adoption: Are we exploring how agentic AI might enhance our operations, merchandise, or buyer expertise? How can we differentiate between a possible AI fad and a transformative alternative?
Aggressive positioning: How do our opponents’ methods relating to tariffs, reshoring, and agentic AI affect our market place? What can we be taught from their approaches?
Supply: IoT Analytics
