‘Pricing’, ‘Inflation’, ‘Shortage’, and ‘Supply Issues’ all witnessed an uptick in mentions in company’s earnings call discussions during Q1 2022 amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, says GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that earnings call discussions around pricing rose 19% from slightly over 42,000 in Q4 2021 to over 50,000 in Q1 2022.

 GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Company Filings Analytics Trends & Signals Q1 2022’, reveals that, along with a sequential double-digit rise in mentions in Q1 2022, discussions about pricing grew by over 65% compared to the same quarter last year. The sectors with the most companies mentioning pricing on earnings calls included technology, construction, financial services, consumer packaged goods, and oil and gas.

Rinaldo Pereira, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Mentions of ‘Pricing’ nosedived in 2020 during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as companies prioritized discussions around keeping up capacity, production, cost-reduction and financial impacts. However, inflation reached record levels in 2022 following the war in Ukraine and it’s clear that companies are concerned about their pricing strategies. ‘Inflation’, ‘Pressure’, ‘Higher Pricing’ and related keywords were frequently discussed on earnings calls across industries during Q1 2022. While consumer companies are wary of customer’s reactions to price increases and have been surgical in their approach to increases as a result, the rising freight costs and inflation leave them no choice.”

The Russia-Ukraine conflict and recent lockdowns in China have compounded supply and shipping issues for companies as congestion at ports continue to pose challenges. As a result, several firms are discussing pricing strategies for newer products. For instance, technology companies such as Samsung Electronics have discussed price adjustments on earnings calls during Q1 2022, while Broadcom expects pricing-related issues to persist until 2023. At the same time, construction firm Skyline Champion discussed pricing actions implemented due to rising raw material costs.