Staying on top of earnings calls is crucial during earnings season - but listening to hour-long calls or hunting down transcripts can be time-consuming. Fortunately, there's a faster way.

Whether you're an investor looking for management's insights or a developer building a financial app, FMP's Earnings Call Transcript API provides an efficient solution to get full transcripts on demand. Let's explore how you can use this API to retrieve transcripts, and why it's a game-changer for earnings season research.

Why Earnings Call Transcripts Matter

Earnings call transcripts are the written records of what company executives and analysts discuss during quarterly earnings calls. They contain valuable context beyond the press release numbers - including management's tone, explanations of results, and forward-looking statements. Analysts often scour transcripts for hints about strategy or potential red flags. In fact, many investors prefer reading transcripts over live calls, since transcripts allow quick scanning for key terms (like “guidance” or “outlook”) and important Q&A exchanges.

By reviewing the transcript, you won't miss subtle cues in what the CEO or CFO emphasized, and you can easily revisit any part of the conversation later. In short, transcripts offer unfiltered insight into a company's performance and outlook - making them essential reading for informed decision-making.

Challenges of Accessing Transcripts (Traditional vs. API)

Traditionally, getting an earnings call transcript meant visiting investor relations websites or relying on financial news services. These methods can be clunky and slow, especially when you need transcripts for multiple companies or want them immediately after the call. Some providers put transcripts behind paywalls or post them with delays.

By using an API, you can instantly retrieve the latest transcripts as soon as they're available, and even pull historical transcripts in bulk. Instead of manually searching and copy-pasting text, you get structured data delivered to you. This automation not only saves time but also enables advanced analysis (like text searching or sentiment analysis across many calls) that would be impractical to do by hand.

Overview of FMP's Earnings Call Transcript API

With FMP's Earnings Call Transcript API, you can retrieve the complete text of any supported company's quarterly earnings call.

The coverage is extensive - FMP's API gives you access to full earnings call transcripts for thousands of companies - including both historical records and real-time updates from the latest calls.

Key features of the FMP Earnings Transcript API include:

• Full-text Transcripts: Access the entire earnings call transcript, from the Operator's introduction to the Q&A session with analysts, all in one response.
• Historical Data: Retrieve transcripts from past quarters or years by specifying the year and quarter - great for backtesting or trend analysis.
• Broad Company Coverage: Transcripts are available for a wide range of companies (from blue-chip giants to smaller firms), so you can research across industries.
• Structured JSON Output: The API returns data in JSON format, making it easy to parse and search specific keywords or sections programmatically.
• Timely Updates: The data is updated shortly after each earnings call concludes, so you can get the transcript within a few hours after the earnings call finishes.

In summary, FMP's transcript API provides comprehensive and timely earnings call commentary in a machine-readable format, ready for your analysis or application.

Step-by-Step: Retrieving an Earnings Call Transcript via API

Ready to pull a transcript? Here's how to use FMP's API to get an earnings call transcript in just a few steps:

Step 1: Obtain an API Key

First, sign up for an API key on the Financial Modeling Prep website. You'll need this `apikey` to authenticate your requests.

Step 2: Construct the API Request URL

The endpoint for fetching a transcript is:

https://financialmodelingprep.com/stable/earning-call-transcript?symbol=AAPL&year=2025&quarter=2&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

Here, replace `AAPL` with the company's stock symbol, `2025` with the year of the earnings period, and `2` with the quarter number (1, 2, 3, or 4) and paste your API key.

The above request URL tells the API to fetch Apple's Q2 2025 earnings call transcript.

Step 3: Make the API Call

You can paste the URL into a web browser, use a command-line tool like `curl`, or integrate it into your code (Python, JavaScript, etc.). Upon sending the request, if everything is set up correctly, FMP will return the transcript data in JSON format.

Step 4:Parse the JSON Response

The response will be a JSON array containing one or more objects. Each object represents a transcript and includes fields such as:

`symbol` - the stock ticker (e.g., `"AAPL"`).

`year` - the fiscal year of the earnings call.

`period` - the quarter of the earnings call (e.g., `"Q3"`).

`date` - the date of the call.

`content` - the full transcript text.

For example, a snippet of the JSON response might look like:

{

"symbol": "AAPL",

"period": "Q3",

"year": 2020,

"date": "2020-07-30",

"content": "Operator: Good day, everyone. Welcome to the Apple Incorporated Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded... Tim Cook: (Opening Remarks) ... We achieved record revenue this quarter, etc. ... Operator: We will now begin the Q&A session. ... Analyst: (Question) ... Tim Cook: (Answer) ... (transcript continues) ..."

}

As shown above, the `content` field contains the entire earnings call transcript as a single text string. You can programmatically search within this text for specific phrases (for instance, searching for “forecast” or “margin” to find where those topics were discussed). The JSON structure makes it easy for your application to store or manipulate the transcript data.

Step 5:Utilize the Transcript Data

With the transcript in hand, you can perform whatever analysis you need. For example, you might run sentiment analysis on the executives' remarks, extract numeric guidance figures mentioned in the call, or compare the language of management's commentary across quarters. You can also archive the transcripts or display them in your own dashboard or app for quick reference. The possibilities are endless now that you have the raw text.

Expert Tip: If you're tracking many companies, consider using FMP's Earnings Transcript List API to first retrieve a list of all companies (and how many transcripts each has). This can help you discover which companies have transcripts available and ensure you're pulling valid data. Additionally, FMP offers a Transcript Dates API that provides information on when earnings call transcripts are available for a given company.

Example: Fetching and Searching a Transcript

To illustrate the power of using the API, let's walk through a quick example. Suppose earnings season is underway and you want to see what Disney (DIS) management said about streaming subscribers in the last call. Rather than digging through news articles, you can get the transcript directly:

Step 1: Call the transcript API for Disney's latest quarter. For instance, if the last reported quarter was Q2 2025, you'd use

https://financialmodelingprep.com/stable/earning-call-transcript?symbol=DIS&year=2025&quarter=2&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

This returns Disney's Q2 2025 call transcript.

Step 2: Search the JSON response (the `content` string) for keywords like “subscribers” or “Disney+”. You'll immediately find the exact quotes where CEO Bob Iger or the CFO discussed subscriber numbers and guidance. For example, by searching “subscribers,” you might find a line in the transcript where an executive states the latest Disney+ subscriber count and outlook for growth. This direct access to specific information in context can give you an edge in understanding the company's direction, without having to read the entire document word-for-word.

Step 3: Repeat for other topics or compare across quarters. If you want to see how the tone on streaming strategy has changed, you could fetch an older transcript (say, DIS Q2 2024) and similarly search within it, then contrast the language or figures year-over-year.

Through this example, it's clear how the combination of API access + text search makes analyzing earnings calls much more efficient. You can pinpoint crucial discussions in seconds, which is especially valuable when covering many companies or preparing reports under time pressure.

Tips for Effective Use of the Transcript API

To get the most out of FMP's transcripts API, keep these tips in mind:

• Check for Availability: Not every micro-cap or international stock will have a transcript available. Use the Earnings Transcript List API to see if a particular symbol is covered.
• Parse and Store Locally: Earnings transcripts can be lengthy (often 5,000-15,000 words). After retrieving via API, you may want to store the text in a database or file for quicker repeated access or offline analysis.
• Leverage Other FMP Data: Combine transcript insights with other datasets. For example, you can pull earnings calendar data to know when upcoming calls are scheduled, then fetch transcripts accordingly. You can also cross-reference financial metrics (from FMP's financial ratios API) with what management said about those metrics in the call. This holistic approach can validate management's commentary against actual results.

By following these tips, you can seamlessly integrate earnings call transcripts into your research workflow and avoid common pitfalls.

Advanced Applications and Analysis

Having transcripts accessible via API unlocks a range of advanced analysis opportunities:

• Keyword Trends: Track how often certain keywords or topics appear over time. For example, tech investors might count mentions of “AI” or “machine learning” in each quarter's call to see if focus on that area is increasing.
• Competitive Analysis: You can compare transcripts of multiple companies in the same industry. If you follow AMD and its competitor NVIDIA, analyzing both transcripts could reveal differences in strategy or outlook. FMP's API makes fetching both sets of transcripts straightforward, so side-by-side comparisons become easier.
• Automated Alerts or Summaries: By parsing transcripts, you could program an alert for when a company's executive says something significant (e.g. announces a new product or changes guidance). Additionally, one could summarize the transcript by extracting the most important sentences - a task well-suited for AI once you have the raw text via API.

The flexibility of having transcript data in JSON form means you're limited only by your creativity. From building dashboards that display real-time quotes alongside recent management commentary, to academic research on linguistic patterns in earnings calls, the FMP transcripts API provides a powerful toolset.

Earnings call transcripts contain insights that every serious investor or analyst should leverage. With FMP's Earnings Call Transcript API, accessing those insights is easier than ever - you can pull full transcripts on-demand, search for the information you need, and integrate it into your investment analysis or applications. During each earnings season, this capability can save you countless hours and help you react faster to what companies are saying.

By using the steps outlined above, you can start fetching transcripts for your watchlist companies today. As a next step, you might explore FMP's Earnings Calendar API for scheduling (so you know when to expect new transcripts), or dive into FMP's other datasets like financial ratios API to complement your transcript analysis. The combination of fundamental data and textual insights from transcripts can give you a 360° view of a company's performance.

FAQs on Earnings Call Transcripts and APIs

What is an earnings call transcript?

An earnings call transcript is a written record of a company's quarterly earnings conference call. It includes the prepared statements from executives (CEO, CFO, etc.) about the financial results and outlook, as well as the Q&A session where analysts ask questions. Essentially, it's the full text of everything said during the call, allowing you to read the discussion instead of listening to the audio.

Why use an API to get earnings call transcripts?

Using an API to get transcripts offers speed and convenience. Instead of manually searching websites for transcripts, an API delivers the transcript data directly to you in a structured format. This is especially useful if you track many companies or want transcripts immediately after the call.

How soon after a call does the transcript become available?

In most cases, transcripts are available within a few hours after the earnings call finishes. FMP updates the transcript endpoints as soon as the official transcript text is released (often the same day of the call). This means you can typically fetch an evening earnings call by later that night or the next morning. During peak earnings days, transcripts for many companies will be populating in near real-time, ensuring timely access for your analysis.

Do the transcripts include the Q&A portion of the call?

Yes - the transcripts provided via FMP's API are full transcripts, meaning they include everything from the operator's opening remarks to management's presentation and the analyst Q&A session. This is extremely valuable, as the Q&A often contains the most insightful information (tough questions, additional details, etc.).

Can I get historical earnings call transcripts from past years?

Absolutely. FMP's API allows you to specify the year and quarter for the transcript you want, and FMP has a large archive of historical transcripts. You can retrieve transcripts from several years back for a given company (e.g., you could pull all four quarters of 2024 for Apple by changing the year and quarter parameters). The availability might vary by company, but generally large-cap companies have transcripts going back many years. This makes it possible to perform year-over-year comparisons or long-term trend analysis using transcripts.