Tuesday, September 16, 2025

What CEOs think about the SEC ‘prioritizing’ Trump’s plan to end quarterly reporting for public companies

In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady on what CEOs think about Trump’s plan to nix quarterly reporting.
The big story: Trump says he’s going to sue the NYT for $15 billion.
The markets: Another all-time high in the S&P 500.
Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Good morning. Quarterly earnings reports are a headache. There’s the hassle of getting the 10-Q together, updating financial data that may or may not be indicative of a company’s long-term potential or financial health. Analysts pepper you with questions; shareholders react. No wonder so many CEOs prefer to stay private.

President Trump wants to do away with quarterly reports, arguing in a Truth Social post yesterday that doing so will “save money and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies.” The Securities and Exchange Commission, which has required quarterly filings for public companies since 1970, is reportedly “prioritizing” the proposal.

But what do CEOs think? I’ve heard many complain over the years but when pressed, most appreciate the discipline and transparency that come with quarterly filings. As one CEO put it to me yesterday: “It imposes an internal rigor and accountability, too.”

For QXO chairman and CEO Brad Jacobs, who has taken several companies public, it’s part of the package. As he told me earlier this year, before stepping up to ring the bell of the New York Stock Exchange for the ninth time, the 10-Q reinforces the credibility and transparency that comes with being public. “You get a report card every 90 days,” he told me. “You have thousands of people voting with their wallet on how they think you’re doing … and every day you get tons of people giving you advice about how to improve the business.”

That said, Trump may be right to do away with one aspect of quarterly reports: the pressure to give guidance. As my colleague Geoff Colvin noted earlier this year, when companies were foregoing guidance amid tariff chaos, “profits are unpredictable all the time, not just amid extraordinary uncertainty.”

Warren Buffett has never given guidance for Berkshire Hathaway, nor have the leaders of Amazon. That hasn’t stopped either from delivering outstanding earnings over the years. Companies like GM, Starbucks and UnitedHealth Group paused guidance amid recent uncertainty. But still, none of them complained about having to file a 10-Q.

Do earnings encourage short-term thinking? Maybe, for short-sighted leaders and investors. But private companies often carry a risk premium because they don’t have to disclose to the same extent as their public brethren. With greater access to capital comes great responsibility to tell shareholders what you are doing with their money.

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com

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