April 16, 2025

Reporting the Success of an Investor and Analyst Day to a Biotech’s Management and Board.

So, you just spent three months and maybe $100,000 organizing an Investor and Analyst Day for your biotech. The day itself went without a hitch, so that means it was a success, right?

Well, best practice would be to consider some key metrics coming out of the event, present your findings to all of those involved (including to your Board in your next quarterly IR update), and develop a list of learnings to improve the next event.

If the purpose of holding your Investor and Analyst Day was to correct a market misunderstanding or educate the market on a certain aspect of your business, that key message should obviously permeate through all of what I’m about to outline.

The purpose of this blog however, is to give you ideas for quantitative as well as qualitative measures to point to your Investor and Analyst Day’s success.

Analysts in physical/virtual attendance (n, %): What proportion of your analysts actually showed up? It should have been possible for them all to attend in person (barring illness, vacations, etc.) because you should have picked a date they could all make. Obviously, there will always be last-minute (and unavoidable) conflicts but regardless, a high proportion of your covering analysts attending is a sign you planned your event well.  

Analyst notes published (n, %): A sign that you presented important content would be reflected in the number of analysts who thought your event was worthy of a write-up. Again, if you did your job properly, each of your analysts should have published, but how many, and what proportion, actually did?

Changes in analysts’ target prices (n, +/-%): If you were looking to explain how derisked parts of your development pipeline are, or correct perceptions about your addressable market opportunity, some analysts may have adjusted their financial models as a result of the new information you presented. If this was the case, you might want to consider how many analysts raised (or lowered) their price targets, and by how much.

Changes in analysts’ ratings (n, upgrade/downgrade %): If this occurred, this would really be the sign that you had shone light on some previously underappreciated value in your stock. Changes in recommendations are hard to garner, however.

Qualitative feedback from analysts: Collecting and documenting soundbites from your covering analysts on the day of your event and afterwards can be useful data for a “Soundbite Showcase” or “Key Quotes Slide” in your recap to management. You can also use select quotes from the research reports they published after the event.

Number of non-covering analysts in attendance (n): You should have invited a gaggle of non-covering analysts, perhaps those you deemed most likely to take up coverage under risk? How many of these target analysts attended you Investor and Analyst Day?

Number of Top 20 investors in physical/virtual attendance (n, %): You should have invited your top shareholders to the event. How many of them actually showed up (either physically or virtually)? This statistic would reflect how well you planned the event to avoid conflicts and how much outreach you undertook to fill the event space.

Qualitative feedback from existing investors: Collecting representative soundbites from your top investors can also be useful in assessing how your event went. Here though, note that each investor’s comments will reflect their own bias, so sample wide to get a balanced view. Note also that existing investors will be much easier to poll than the potential investors you targeted, in light of the fact that they already have skin in the game.

Number of existing investors who bought or sold stock after the event (fund, +/- # shares): It’s possible that after your Investor and Analyst Day, your top investors added to their positions on the back of renewed confidence. To include this information, you would have to consult the 13F filings from both before and after your event and take a leap of faith in attributing any change as stemming from your event.

Number of target investors in physical/virtual attendance (n, %): Most of the biotechs I’ve worked with over the years are in a continuous cycle of fundraising. As such, new investors have to be brought into the story and educated long before they can be expected to write a check. How many did you snare with your Investor and Analyst Day?

Number of target investors who bought or sold stock after the event (fund, +/- # shares): Moreover, how many of your target investors were sufficiently motivated from your Investor and Analyst Day to start building a position in your biotech? Equally as important, how many expressed an interest in taking part in a future financing, if and when such an event occurs?

Press coverage obtained: It could be that your new material was too technical (or otherwise) to be newsworthy, but in some instances biotechs make announcements at Investor and Analyst Days that are of interest to journalists. Your PR company should be able to provide you with a detailed breakdown of media coverage.

Qualitative feedback from within the company: Insiders from within a biotech should also be able to share their thoughts on how the event went. You can collect soundbites from presenters, employees who viewed the webcast, a director who was in physical attendance, etc. Be mindful of insiders’ bias, however; they are privy to both public and non-public information about your company and may not be as familiar with the goals of your event.

Qualitative feedback from KOLs: The opinions of your KOLs are important, as well as less partial than those of your insiders. You likely flew them all the way to New York, they got questioned by, and mingled with, your analysts and investors – how do they think the event went down? What part of the event were they most excited about? Chances are, this also isn’t their first rodeo, so try to get feedback on how your event compared to other similar company-hosted events. Collecting soundbites from them can be valuable.

Stock price movement ($+/-, % change): Now, I know I said Investor and Analyst Days are not milestones or catalysts in-and-of-themselves, but there is the potential that a new understanding of your investment thesis could emerge post-event. That being said, unless you announced something material, your stock may simply trade flat or follow whatever the market is doing that day. As such, lean on this metric sparingly. 

Was your event under or over budget ($+/-, +/-%): This is a relativism, of course. If you budgeted for a physical event but changed to a virtual event, you’re likely to have come in significantly under budget. Does that mean it was more successful? Not necessarily. Likewise, if your initial estimate was way off, you could have come in under or over budget. Regardless, coming in on or under budget could be a sign that you executed well (the accountants will certainly think so), so consider the inclusion of this stat in your analysis if it makes sense.

Number of banking relationships serviced (n): Bankers may not be your chosen audience for this event, but you can be sure that one or more will turn up on the day itself to say hi and shake your hand. Tallying the banking touchpoints you made through your Investor and Analyst Day could be an important metric if you are underbanked (or are looking to replace existing members of your banking syndicate).

Conclusion

Hopefully, the above has provided you with plenty of ideas for how to learn from and communicate the success of your event.

You could, of course, conduct a perception study both before and after your Investor and Analyst Day – that would be the most comprehensive way of determining how many minds you changed – but I would heavily counsel against it. Conducting a single perception study uses up a lot of your analysts’ and investors’ goodwill. I would argue that conducting two – in relatively quick succession – could deplete it entirely.  

Lastly, at the beginning of this article I talked about takeaways for next time, so before I close, I want to stress heavily that Investor and Analyst Days should not become annual events for biotechs.

Why? Well, the clinical trials that underpin our value creation typically don’t move fast enough to warrant that. Instead, the average biotech won’t hold more than one Investor and Analyst Day every 18 months and would be very unlikely to hold one within the first 9-12 months of being public (because at that point your investment thesis really should not have changed since IPO).