Business 2008: The Year of the Lumpy

Could you describe the state of business in a single word? How about lumpy?

The adjective "lumpy" -- to describe the uneven changes, quarter to quarter, in a company's revenue, capital expenditures, gross margins, etc. -- is being used more and more by corporate executives to describe what is happening in their businesses.

A search of transcripts shows that "lumpy" has been used in company earnings calls and at industry conferences this year at nearly twice the rate as the same period in 2003.

"Investment banking is lumpy by nature," Evercore's chief executive, Roger Altman, explained this week as the boutique advisory firm swung to a loss in the first quarter.

And though some may think of hills and valleys rather than lumps when it comes to real estate, Ric Clark of Brookfield Properties, one of Manhattan's biggest landlords, has said that "this is a lumpy business in general."

"Choppy" or "inconsistent" or "rough" are less popular word choices for executives because they have connotations of volatility and trouble. "Lumpy" is not an ideal state, but it is more friendly and tactile, and perhaps necessary at times, like oatmeal.

As a producer of flour, cereals, and yogurt, General Mills should know something about the quality of lumpy. In its recent quarterly earnings call, the company's C.E.O. used the word several times in answering questions from analysts.

The word made headlines last November, when John Chambers of Cisco Systems unnerved the stock market by saying that spending on technology may be "lumpy" in the months ahead.

Tech investors took their lumps, all right, and still have not fully recovered.

Here's hoping that come next year, these executives will have found a smoother path.

Jeffrey Cane

(Above, Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford, on Leave It to Beaver, destined for the corporate suite.)