This report is based upon a survey of 2,500 CFA Institute members around the world working as investment analysts and portfolio managers – found strong investor support for retaining mandatory quarterly reporting, as well as significant concerns regarding the implications of reducing reporting frequency.
The report also highlights that the debate regarding quarterly reporting is about disclosures more broadly and the information investors need to allocate capital effectively, as well as the implications of changing disclosure requirements for capital formation and investor protection.
Abstract
Why the Quarterly Reporting Debate Has Returned
The debate regarding quarterly versus semiannual reporting in the United States has once again returned to the policy agenda. Prompted by a 2025 social media post by President Trump, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) is again considering whether public companies should continue to provide quarterly reports or whether reporting frequency should be reduced to semiannual reporting.
At a glance:
- Investors broadly support maintaining mandatory quarterly reporting, viewing it as essential to market transparency, comparability, liquidity, and investor confidence.
- Reducing reporting frequency is seen as a solution in search of a problem, with limited evidence that semiannual reporting would improve capital formation or public market participation.
- Investors expect less useful information under a voluntary quarterly reporting regime, including fewer Form 10-Q filings and less comparable, less structured disclosures.
- Earnings releases are not viewed as substitutes for Form 10-Q filings, because investors value the structure, financial statement detail, auditor involvement, certifications, and legal accountability of quarterly reports.
- Long-termism is viewed as driven more by management incentives than reporting frequency, with investors expressing concern that semiannual reporting could increase information asymmetry, volatility, and cost of capital.