President Donald Trump is gearing up to get rid of quarterly earnings reports for companies. U.S. companies should be allowed to report earnings every six months instead of on a quarterly basis, President Trump said on Monday, announcing what could prove to be a major shift for corporate America.
“This will save money, and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies,” Trump said.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it was making Trump’s proposal a priority. “At President Trump’s request, Chairman Atkins and the SEC is prioritizing this proposal to further eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens on companies,” a spokesperson said.
- Todd Henderson, a law professor at the University of Chicago and an expert on securities regulation, said he expected many companies would continue to feed investor appetite for quarterly disclosures even if the SEC ceased requiring this.
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“Overwhelmingly the practice would stay just as it is,” he said. “That companies’ behaviors are wildly distorted by short-termism is certainly true in some cases but it’s not a system-wide phenomenon.”
Those in favour of Trump’s proposal could argue that this shift would reduce compliance costs and administrative burdens, especially for smaller companies. By easing the pressure to meet short-term earnings expectations, companies could focus more on long-term growth and innovation. Additionally, this change would align U.S. reporting practices with those of other major markets such as the UK and the European Union, where semiannual reporting is the norm. The SEC is actively considering the proposal but has not yet made any formal rule changes.
However, critics caution that reducing the frequency of earnings reports could harm transparency and investor confidence. Quarterly reports provide timely, standardized updates that help investors monitor company performance and react quickly to emerging risks or opportunities. With semiannual reporting, financial issues may go unnoticed for longer, potentially increasing market uncertainty or volatility when results are finally released.
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Many investors prefer quarterly disclosures to make well-informed decisions, and less frequent reporting could weaken market discipline and corporate accountability. As of late 2025, the SEC continues to weigh these competing concerns without a final decision, reflecting the ongoing debate between regulatory relief and investor protection.
Jill Fisch, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania law school and an expert in securities regulation, said making investors wait to learn of economically significant changes in a company’s performance could make markets less efficient.
“Our capital markets are the gold standard in the world for their efficiency and transparency,” she said. “I don’t know that we want to be emulating markets that people view as less attractive.”
The SEC’s decision will need to carefully balance easing burdens on companies while maintaining the high standards of transparency and investor protection that underpin U.S. capital markets.