<SPECIAL FEATURE>
January 26, 1999
Investors' Rights
Ratings 7.5 - 6.5
In a wholly unscientific manner, Yi-Hsin Chang and Louis Corrigan each picked 10 well-known companies from a wide range of industries. Efforts were made to contact every company's investor relations (IR) department to ask about policies regarding conference calls, website offerings, and earnings press releases. Conference calls were rated on two criteria -- their availability to individual shareowners and whether a live broadcast was available on the Internet. Earnings announcements were rated on clarity, detail, and depth. The companies' IR websites were navigated to determine usefulness to shareowners. Each company was rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest rating possible.
Next -- Company Ratings 6 - 5
Yahoo! <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: YHOO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: YHOO)") end if %>
3420 Central Expressway
Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 731-3300
http://www.yahoo.com/info/investor/
Rating: 7.5
Foolish Efforts: Yahoo! broadcasts its quarterly conference calls (including Q&A) live over the Web. Even better, it has begun archiving recent calls online. Great stuff! The site also provides clear contact info, including e-mail address (though the phone number is buried in the FAQ); a decent FAQ; a list of names and numbers for the analysts that cover the company; links to the SEC filings; short bios of officers and directors; annual reports from the last 2 years; and a 3 year archive of press releases (complete with balance sheets.)
Areas for Improvement: For additional Yahoo! news items, the site shoots you into the Yahoo! search maelstrom, which is not very helpful. Also, the '97 annual report is available only for download while the '96 report is available only for online use. Investors should have easy options for both. Yahoo! doesn't provide conference call transcripts or even announce the live online access in a pre-earnings press release. The company should also offer investors an e-mail service, notifying them of major news. Yahoo!'s Andrea Klipfel said she was too busy to answer our questions, so we don't know what may be in the works or what other policies the firm has in place to prevent selective disclosure.
AT&T Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: T)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: T)") end if %>
32 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10013
(212) 387-5400
http://www.att.com/ir/
Rating: 7.5
Foolish Efforts: AT&T's IR website has an impressive archive of presentations and events dating back to March 1997 that allows you to listen to management discuss quarterly results and view or download slides and press releases related to other announcements. The site gives some good historical data, such as stock prices (going back to 1901), dividends (dating back to 1893), and 5- and 12-year shareowner return on investment. Plus it allows users to chart stock price performance and compare trading activity with that of peers in the telecommunications industry as well as other Dow Jones Industrial Average components. AT&T also offers a site map and search function for easy navigation of its IR area, and allows shareowners to access account information online. There's also a page titled "Let Us Know," where you can submit comments directly to the company.
Areas for Improvement: AT&T holds conference calls "targeted at the investment community," which aren't open to individual investors, though the company says it gives out the replay number upon request. The company is also working toward offering live Internet broadcasts of the calls. The company should offer a service by which investors can sign up to be notified by e-mail of major announcements and upcoming events.
Dell Computer Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") end if %>
One Dell Way
Round Rock, TX 78682
(512) 338-4400
http://www.dell.com/corporate/index.htm
Rating: 7
Foolish Efforts: Dell's earnings press releases, which include such details as current and quick ratios and return on invested capital (ROIC), are very informative. On its website, Dell gives a comprehensive overview of its business, history, management, products, and goals, and it does broadcast its annual shareholder meeting. A rather unique and advanced feature of the site is a Calendar of Events page, where you can sign up to receive reminders via e-mail of upcoming events -- you can even specify how far in advance you want to be notified. Dell also lists dates of industry trade shows. It even has someone in its IR department devoted to answering e-mail inquiries from individual investors.
Areas for Improvement: Dell's quarterly conference calls -- currently only open to analysts, institutional investors, and select media -- should be broadcast live on the Internet and archived so individual investors aren't shut out. At the very least, the company should give shareowners access to conference call replays. The Calendar of Events is a good start but should be expanded to include notification of other major announcements, such as product launches and speeches by executives.
America Online Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: AOL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: AOL)") end if %>
22000 AOL Way
Dulles, VA 20166
(703) 448-8700
http://www.aol.com/corp/
Rating: 6.5
Foolish Efforts: Although America Online limits access to its conference calls to analysts and institutional investors, it does broadcast the calls live on the Internet and keep the broadcasts on its websites for 30 days. It also posts transcripts of conference calls in its archives one to two days after the call. AOL's corporate site offers a decent database of news releases, 10-Qs dating back to Q1 1996, and 10-Ks going back to 1995.
Areas for Improvement: The company's Frequently Asked Questions page is outdated. Case in point: Analysts' fiscal 1998 EPS estimates, listed individually by brokerage, was last updated "September 26, 1997." Similarly, we're told of the exact number of AOL shares outstanding -- as of December 31, 1997. AOL's "For Investors" area could stand to be beefed up (and jazzed up) with offerings such as an online sign-up sheet for e-mail notification of company events and announcements, analysis tools, an archive of its stock performance, past annual reports, and transcripts of speeches given by executives.