A recent study has found that companies that call disproportionately on bullish analysts during investor calls tend to see their stock prices fall a few quarters later, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The study, conducted by a Harvard Business School professor, looked at companies' earnings calls with investors from 2003 to 2015 and found that 17 to 22 percent of them heavily favored bullish analysts in terms of who they called on for questions. But these same companies tended to see stock price declines about one to two quarters after these calls, usually due to some sort of negative news about them.

The researchers believe, given these findings, that investors should pay attention to whom management calls on during earnings calls, as favoring bullish analyists or just avoiding questions that they'd prefer not to talk about could be a sign of trouble down the road. Without a balanced set of information, investors are unable to get a full picture of the company's financial situation, but the Journal said that companies are unlikely to stop trying to paint a positive light on their earnings due to the desire to look good for investors.