Where to get the call audio
Listed companies usually host earnings calls as webcasts on their investor relations site, and many keep an archived replay there for a period afterwards. Some offer a downloadable MP3 of the replay; others only stream it in a player, in which case you need a file the company provides. A growing number also post the call on a public YouTube channel, which you can import with Import from link once the live stream has ended.
Upload MP3, M4A, WAV or MP4 as it is. Calls often start with hold music or silence; that does no harm, though trimming it can avoid a stray line at the start.
Check every number
Earnings calls are mostly figures: revenue, margins, growth rates, guidance ranges, basis points, share counts and dates. Speech recognition can turn "fifteen" into "fifty", drop a decimal, or write a figure in words in one place and digits in another. Do not quote or trade on a figure from the transcript without hearing it.
- Click each line containing a number and listen; the player jumps straight there.
- Compare figures with the earnings press release and any filed financial statements.
- Watch for units: millions versus billions, percent versus percentage points, quarter versus year.
- Check company, product, segment and analyst firm names, which are often unusual.
Speakers on the call
A call has an operator, an investor relations host, the CEO and CFO, and a series of analysts in the Q&A. Speaker identification, available on paid plans or with a Minute Pack, labels the voices. Rename each label once to the executive's name or role; the operator usually announces each analyst and their firm, which helps you name those speakers. Analysts dialling in by phone sound thinner and are more often misheard.
Exports for research notes
DOCX suits a working copy you will annotate. CSV gives one row per segment with its start time, which makes it easy to pull guidance statements or answers on a topic into a spreadsheet and compare across quarters. TXT or Copy pastes into notes. Keep timestamps on so any quote can be traced back to the replay.
The AI prompt export copies the transcript with a prompt for ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini if you want a first-pass summary; check anything it says against the transcript and the audio.
Limits to keep in mind
This is an unofficial machine transcript, not the company's official record and not investment advice. Calls in other languages are transcribed in the spoken language without translation. A folder per company or quarter keeps your history together. For finance videos on YouTube, see the YouTube finance transcript page.