Key Driver Definitions

Below are the definitions for terms used in the Key Driver Dashboard:

  • Capex: Amenity’s Capacity Production (Capex) key driver comprises commentary in earnings calls about capital spending related to fixed assets (for example investments, maintenance, and improvements). Polarity assignments in this key driver interpret increases in capital expenditures negatively as they draw down cash.
  • Capital Raise Returns: Amenity’s Capital Raise Returns key driver comprises commentary in earnings calls related to buybacks or dividends. Polarity in this key driver adopts the perspective of equity holders, meaning increases in buybacks and dividends are positive.
  • Deception: Amenity’s Deception key driver utilizes contextual analysis and language pattern recognition to capture instances when executives make comments with the following characteristics: overconfidence or under-confidence, vagueness, evasion, hostility, euphemisms, and stall tactics.
  • Guidance: Amenity’s Guidance key driver comprises all commentary in earnings calls containing financial guidance and forward-looking language. Guidance is a distinct event type, where upward and downward revisions to guidance define polarity accordingly. Forecast is a property that can be assigned to any other event type; the underlying event defines the polarity of the extraction.
  • Headwinds Tailwinds: Amenity’s Headwinds Tailwinds key driver comprises commentary in earnings calls related to events in the external environment that are mentioned as impacting the company. Polarity in this key driver adopts the perspective that headwinds are negative, and tailwinds are positive.
  • Executive Change: Amenity’s Executive Change key driver comprises commentary in earnings calls related to changes in senior corporate management, such as C-suite executives and boards of directors. Polarity in this key driver adopts the perspective that departing executives are negative whereas new appointments are positive.
  • Irregularities: Amenity’s Irregularities key driver comprises commentary in earnings calls about any occurrence of events outside of the normal course of action for the company. These irregularities tend to be unexpected, are typically one-time in nature, and are predominantly negative for the company. These events are most often related to legal affairs, accounting, or acts of nature.
  • Margin: Amenity’s Margin key driver captures relevant commentary around favorable and unfavorable changes in margins, such as margin growth and shrinkage, margin expansion and contraction, and increasing/decreasing margins. Additionally, this key driver highlights deceptive answers to questions raised about the topic of margins. Polarity, in this key driver adopts the perspective that increasing margins have a positive impact on the company’s profitability.
  • Market Position: Amenity’s Market Position key driver comprises commentary in earnings calls related to the competitive positioning of a company and its products or services. Polarity in this key driver interprets instances of market share gains, entrance into a new market, successful product trials/launches, and actionable pricing power positively. Alternatively, loss of market share, instances of product recalls, competition, and drops in customer spending/traffic are viewed negatively.
  • Merger Acquisition: Amenity’s Merger Acquisition key driver comprises commentary in earnings calls related to mergers, acquisitions, purchases, and sales of assets, synergies, takeover defenses, and other matters pertaining to inorganic growth. Polarity in this key driver adopts the perspective that organic growth is preferable to inorganic growth, meaning acquisitions are typically assigned negative polarity whereas divestitures are typically assigned positive polarity.
  • Wage: Amenity’s Wage key driver comprises commentary in earnings calls related to any impact of nominal or real wages. Polarity in this key driver adopts the perspective that higher wage-related expenses negatively impact corporate margins and profitability.