Earnings Call Digest: a Claude skill that turns a transcript into a one-page read

---
name: earnings-call-digest
description: Turn an earnings call transcript into a one-page digest covering the results management cited, guidance in their exact words, what analysts pressed on and whether they got straight answers, and what changed since last quarter. Use this whenever someone pastes, attaches or links an earnings call transcript or prepared remarks, asks to summarize, recap or break down an earnings call, asks what management said about guidance or a specific topic on the call, or wants this quarter's call compared with last quarter's, even if they never say "digest". Made by Hands Off (handsoff.finance).
metadata:
  version: "1.0"
  publisher: Hands Off (handsoff.finance)
---

# Earnings Call Digest

The goal is a one-page read that lets someone who skipped the call understand what was said in about three minutes, and check every line against the transcript. Readers use this to make decisions with real money, so accuracy matters more than polish: a wrong number or an invented quote does more harm than a missing section.

## What to work from

- **The transcript (required).** Pasted text, an attached PDF or file, or a link. If you're given a link you can't open, ask the user to paste or attach the transcript instead of working from memory.
- **Last quarter's transcript (optional).** This unlocks the "What changed since last quarter" section. Without it, skip that section and say how to get it. Don't reconstruct last quarter from memory: your knowledge of past calls is incomplete and may be out of date.
- **The press release or slides (optional).** Use them for figures management referred to but didn't read out. Label anything taken from them as "(release)" or "(slides)".
- **The user's focus (optional).** If they say what they care about, such as a segment, a risk, or a position they hold, add a short "Your question" section that answers it from the call. Answer what the call said; don't advise them what to do.

If the user only provides a press release, say the digest is limited to the release (no Q&A, no tone) and continue with the sections that still apply.

## Ground rules, and why they matter

1. **The transcript is the only source for what management said.** Include a figure only if it was said on the call or appears in a document the user gave you. Don't add consensus estimates, the stock's reaction, or prior-quarter numbers from memory. Those figures change quickly, your training data may be stale, and a confident wrong number is the worst outcome for this reader. If web search is available and the user asks for outside context, put it in a separate section headed "From outside the call," with the source and date for every item.
2. **Quote exactly, and keep quotes short.** Copy quotes word for word, under about 25 words each, and name the speaker. Don't join two sentences into one quote or add punctuation the transcript doesn't have; quote them separately instead. If the transcript has no speaker labels, drop the Speaker column, attribute quotes to "management," and note in "What this digest didn't check" that speaker labels were missing.
3. **Keep the company's own labels.** If they said adjusted, non-GAAP, managed basis, organic or constant currency, keep that word next to the number. Don't convert or combine figures.
4. **Only call guidance raised or lowered when the call supports it.** Use Raised, Lowered, Reaffirmed, Introduced or Withdrawn only when management made the comparison themselves ("up from our prior outlook of...") or you have last quarter's transcript to compare against. Otherwise use "Stated." A guessed direction is a fact the reader can't check.
5. **Judge answers by what was asked, not by tone.** Mark an answer "Partial" or "Declined" only when you can point to the gap: the analyst asked X, and management answered Y, gave no number, or said they don't guide to it. Include the short quote that shows it. Some transcripts include management's answers but not the analysts' questions. In that case, infer each theme from the answers, say at the top of the section that the questions are missing, and use a Direct/Partial/Declined label only when the answer itself shows it (for example, "we're not ready to share that").
6. **No recommendations.** Don't say whether to buy, sell or hold, give price targets, or predict the stock's move, even if asked. Give the factual read, and say this is a reading aid, not investment advice.
7. **Say what you couldn't check.** Every digest ends with what it didn't cover, such as a missing Q&A section, no prior quarter, or slides not provided. That's what makes the rest trustworthy.

## How to work through a call

1. **Check what you have.** Identify the company, ticker, quarter and call date, and who spoke. Confirm the transcript is complete (opening, prepared remarks, Q&A, close) and note anything missing.
2. **Read the prepared remarks.** Pull out the results management chose to highlight, every outlook or guidance statement, new initiatives or changes, and risks they named.
3. **Read the Q&A.** For each question, note the analyst and firm if given, the topic, what management said, and whether the answer was Direct, Partial or Declined.
4. **Group the Q&A into three to five themes.** Rank them by how many analysts raised each and how much time it took. Repeated questions on one topic are often the most useful signal on the call.
5. **Compare with last quarter, if you have it.** Look at guidance numbers, phrases management repeated or dropped, topics that appeared or disappeared, and changes in how they described the same risk. Quote both calls.
6. **Write the digest** using the template below, at about one page (roughly 500–750 words including the tables). A long call still gets one page; the user can ask for the full Q&A log. Some companies, banks especially, give ten or more guidance items. If the guidance table alone runs past ten rows, keep the whole table and shorten the prose: cut "In three lines" to the essentials and keep each analyst theme to two lines.
7. **Check before you hand it over.** Search the transcript for every figure and quote you used. If you can run code, do this with a quick text search rather than from memory. Confirm each guidance label follows rule 4. Fix anything that doesn't match. If you're unsure about something, leave it out or flag it.

Explain jargon in plain words the first time it appears, for example "NII (net interest income, what the bank earns on loans minus what it pays on deposits)." Many readers are not finance professionals. See `references/reading-guide.md` for common terms and for how to read guidance wording.

## Output template

Use this structure for a full digest. Leave out a section's rows rather than padding them, but keep the headings so the reader can see what was covered.

```
# [Company] ([TICKER]): [Quarter] earnings call digest
Call date: [date] · Source: [transcript / release / slides provided] · Compared with: [prior quarter, or "not provided"]

**In three lines**
- [The most important result or change, with the number]
- [The guidance story in one line]
- [What analysts focused on most]

## Results management highlighted
| Item | What was said | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| ... | ... | ... |

## Guidance
| Item | Now | Change | Exact wording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ... | ... | Raised / Lowered / Reaffirmed / Introduced / Withdrawn / Stated | "..." |

## What analysts pushed on
1. **[Theme]** ([n] questions). [What they asked, in one line.] [What management said, in one line.] Answer: Direct / Partial / Declined. "[short quote]"
2. ...

## What changed since last quarter
[Only with last quarter's transcript. Otherwise: "Not compared. Add last quarter's transcript to get this section."]

## Your question
[Only if the user named a focus.]

## Worth checking next
- [Two to four factual follow-ups, such as what the 10-Q, the next call, or a specific disclosure will show]

## What this digest didn't check
- [Missing sections, documents not provided, outside data not used]

---
A reading aid, not investment advice. Check figures against the company's filings.
Made with the Hands Off earnings call skill · handsoff.finance
```

## Other requests this skill covers

- **A single question about a call** ("What did they say about AI spending?"): answer directly with quotes and speakers, using the same ground rules. Don't produce the full template unless asked.
- **Several calls at once** (earnings week): write one digest per company, then a short "Across these calls" section with three to five points that appeared in more than one call, each tied to the companies and quotes.
- **The full Q&A log**: list every question in order with the analyst, firm, topic, a one-line answer and the Direct/Partial/Declined label.

# Reading guide for earnings calls

Use this when labeling guidance, judging answers, or explaining jargon. It's a guide, not a rulebook: when the call's own wording is clearer than any rule here, go with the call.

## Contents
1. Reading guidance wording
2. Judging answers in the Q&A
3. Plain-English terms

## 1. Reading guidance wording

Report guidance in management's exact words. These labels describe direction, and each one needs evidence from the call or from last quarter's transcript.

| Label | Use when | Example wording |
|---|---|---|
| Raised | The new number or range is higher than the prior one, and the call or prior transcript shows both | "We now expect... up from our previous outlook of..." |
| Lowered | The new number or range is lower than the prior one, with both shown | "We're revising our full-year range to..." plus the old range |
| Reaffirmed | Management says the prior outlook still holds | "We continue to expect...", "We're reiterating..." |
| Introduced | First time a figure is given, such as a new year's outlook | "For next year, our initial view is..." |
| Withdrawn | Management stops giving a figure they used to give | "We're no longer providing...", "Given uncertainty, we're pulling..." |
| Stated | A figure is given, but nothing on the call or in your documents shows what it was before | Any outlook number without a comparison |

**Narrowed ranges.** A range that narrows (for example from $10–12 to $10.5–11.5) has the same midpoint, so it isn't simply raised or lowered. Write "Narrowed" in the Exact wording column and keep the Change label as Reaffirmed, unless the midpoint moved.

**Soft wording to keep, not interpret.** "At least," "approximately," "toward the high end," "comfortable with," "in line with," "modestly," "headwinds." Quote these words; don't turn them into numbers.

**Qualifiers that matter.** "Excluding [item]," "on a constant-currency basis," "assuming no change in rates," "central case." Keep them next to the figure, because the number means something different without them.

## 2. Judging answers in the Q&A

Mark each answer by comparing it with the question asked.

- **Direct.** Answers the question asked, usually with a number, a range, a date or a clear yes or no.
- **Partial.** Answers part of the question, or answers a nearby question. For example, asked about next year's margin, management talks about this quarter's cost cuts.
- **Declined.** Management says they won't give that figure ("we don't guide to that," "too early to say," "we'll update you next quarter"), or moves on without answering.

Always include the short quote that shows the label is fair. A Partial or Declined answer isn't automatically bad news. Companies often don't guide to certain figures as a policy, so say so if management gave that reason.

Signals worth noting, without overreading:
- Several analysts asking about the same topic.
- Management repeating a scripted line from the prepared remarks in answer to a specific question.
- A topic that took up a lot of last quarter's call and isn't mentioned this time (only with last quarter's transcript).

## 3. Plain-English terms

Explain a term in brackets the first time it appears in the digest. Common ones:

| Term | Plain meaning |
|---|---|
| EPS | Earnings per share: profit divided by the number of shares |
| GAAP / non-GAAP (adjusted) | GAAP follows standard accounting rules; non-GAAP or adjusted figures leave out items the company considers one-off |
| Guidance / outlook | Management's forecast for a coming period |
| Organic growth | Growth excluding acquisitions, sales of businesses and currency effects |
| Constant currency | Growth with exchange-rate changes removed |
| Gross margin | Revenue minus the direct cost of what was sold, as a percentage of revenue |
| Operating margin | Profit from operations as a percentage of revenue |
| Free cash flow | Cash from operations minus capital spending |
| Capex | Capital expenditure: spending on long-lasting assets like buildings, equipment and data centers |
| Backlog / RPO | Contracted revenue not yet delivered (RPO: remaining performance obligations) |
| ARR | Annual recurring revenue, usually for subscription businesses |
| Bookings | New contracts signed in the period |
| Same-store sales / comps | Sales growth at locations open at least a year |
| NII | Net interest income: what a bank earns on loans and securities minus what it pays on deposits and borrowing |
| Net charge-offs | Loans a lender has written off as unlikely to be repaid, minus recoveries |
| Reserve build / release | Money a lender sets aside for (or frees up from) expected future loan losses |
| CET1 ratio | A bank's core capital as a share of its risk-weighted assets; regulators set minimums |
| ROTCE | Return on tangible common equity: a bank's profit relative to shareholders' equity, excluding goodwill |
| Buyback | The company purchasing its own shares |
| Basis point (bp) | One hundredth of a percentage point; 25 bp = 0.25% |

# Earnings Call Digest, a Claude skill from Hands Off

Paste or attach an earnings call transcript and Claude writes a one-page digest:

- the results management highlighted, with who said them
- guidance in management's exact words, labeled raised, lowered or reaffirmed only when the call shows it
- the three to five things analysts pressed on, and whether each answer was direct, partial or declined
- what changed since last quarter, if you add last quarter's transcript
- what the digest didn't check

Every figure and quote comes from the transcript you provide. The skill tells Claude not to fill in estimates or numbers from memory, and not to make buy or sell calls.

## Install in the Claude app

1. Turn on code execution: Settings → Capabilities → "Code execution and file creation". (On Team and Enterprise plans, an admin controls this.)
2. Go to Customize → Skills, click "+", then "Create skill" → "Upload a skill".
3. Upload this ZIP and make sure the skill is switched on.

The Claude desktop app uses the same skills you upload here, so there's nothing extra to install there.

## Install in Claude Code

Unzip and copy the `earnings-call-digest` folder to `~/.claude/skills/`, so the instructions sit at `~/.claude/skills/earnings-call-digest/SKILL.md`. It's then available in all your projects on that computer. Skills installed this way don't carry over to the Claude app, so upload the ZIP there too if you use both.

## Using it

Start a chat and attach a transcript, or paste one in, and ask for a digest. For example:

> Here's Microsoft's latest earnings call transcript. Give me the digest.

> Here are this quarter's and last quarter's transcripts for JPMorgan. What changed?

> What did management say about AI spending on this call?

## What's inside

- `SKILL.md`: the instructions Claude follows. Plain text, no code.
- `references/reading-guide.md`: how to read guidance wording, how to judge answers, and plain-English definitions.

There are no scripts and nothing connects to outside services. You can read every file before installing.

## Good to know

- The digest is a reading aid, not investment advice. Check important figures against the company's filings.
- Results depend on the transcript. A partial or machine-generated transcript gives a partial digest, and the skill will say so.
- Free for personal use. Please don't resell it or repackage it as your own. If you share it, link back to handsoff.finance.

Version 1.0 · October 2026 · handsoff.finance
(The version is also in SKILL.md under `metadata`, so you can tell which copy you have installed.)