Daniel and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

"Hello darkness, my old friend... I've come to talk with you again..."

I'd be surprised if these words (or, perhaps, these words) haven't crossed the mind of Sprint CEO Dan Hesse in the wake of his company's most recent analyst day that - according to Walter Piecyk, an analyst with BTIG LLC, which specializes in global trading and fund services for hedge funds - turned "ugly" when Mr. Hesse refused to provide detailed financial forecasts in response to repeated questions. The stock valuation fell approximately 26 percent following the event. As my uncle once said, "It's a paper loss... but that's A LOT of paper."

If you were in charge of Sprint's investor relations, what would you do?

I tell you what, waiting for the dust to settle would not be an option in my book. An organizational trauma such as this requires swift and immediate action - from a formal release addressing the financial question(s) to a follow-up conference call/webcast to discuss release regarding the financial question(s) to expanded content on the IR website (and elsewhere) to 1:1 meetings with investors, among other things. I'd also want an investor perception study done - likely after earnings are announced later this month - to see how "Operation Restoration" (I just made that up - it's kinda catchy, though) is tracking, if the messaging needs any modification in the short term and what the IR priorities need to be in the coming year. Such a study would also allow management and the Board to more clearly separate what's real and what's rhetoric amid the clamor of its vocal analysts. I'd also want to work closely with HR to combat the rumor mill and anxiety in the hallways, as well as keep in touch with sales/marketing to monitor the marketplace as closely as investors will be.

How do you see it?

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