An end-of-year shareholder letter is an important yet often overlooked communication tool for companies. A thoughtful, well-crafted letter aligns shareholders’ expectations with your company’s performance and its future outlook. Plus, it helps foster confidence in the company’s leadership and strengthens your company's reputation.

Analysts, once known for generously extending compliments during earnings calls, are now adopting a more restrained approach according to a Bloomberg news article this week. Positive accolades like “Great quarter,” “Way to go” or “Congratulations” are down 29% this year, making it the biggest annual decline since the Great Recession.

The IPO market looked set to recover after a rather lackluster year. However, the market took a downturn last week after shares in the German shoemaker, Birkenstock tumbled in its initial debut. Now called “one of the worst IPOs in recent history” by Reuters, Birkenstock is trying to get back on its feet after a rocky start, leading some companies to rethink liquidity goals, especially small caps.