Transcripts analysis reveals the word on Wall Street in 2021

“Supply chain,” “inflation” and “variant” were among the new top words mentioned at least once on Wall Street calls this year, according to an analysis of transcripts by Sentieo, a research firm.

Why it matters: All the chatter about bottlenecks, rising prices and variant spread that led to more factory shutdowns is another sign of just how big of a headache it was for corporate America (and consumers) this year.

• “The Fed was saying inflation was transitory — yet looking at what companies said on earnings calls, that was an indicator that it wasn’t,” says Erick Mokaya, author of “The Transcript,” a newsletter focused on earnings calls.

The latest: Nike executives last night went for the triple whammy. They mentioned the tangled supply chain, rising costs and variants during an earnings call — a sign that these terms may stay hot in 2022, as executives are pushed for updates on how or if they're impacting business.

In case you were curious, the instances of executives and analysts fumbling over the “unmute” button on earnings calls are small — but edging up.

• Among S&P 500 firms, there were 72 transcripts where “you’re on mute” was mentioned at least once — slightly higher than last year’s 63, according to FactSet.