Who’d Benefit If Earnings Went Semiannual—and Who’d Hate It

President Trump floated a big change: cut required corporate earnings reports from quarterly to twice a year (pending SEC sign-off). Sounds wonky, but it could reshape how Wall Street trades, how CEOs plan—and how everyday investors stay in the loop.

Trump pitched the idea again (he last tried in 2018, too late to stick). This time he’s got runway to push it.

Rationale: fewer “short-termism” pressures; think more long-term—his post even nodded to the notion that “China plans in 50–100 year cycles while we obsess over quarters.”

The move dovetails with the administration’s broader deregulation streak and comes as officials meet Beijing for trade talks.

Not a fringe view, either. Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffett have argued quarterly fixation hurts the economy. The UK and EU already run semiannual reporting (with optional quarterlies). Hong Kong is semiannual; mainland China is quarterly.

Winners:

• CEOs & boards who’d rather not joust with analysts four times a year—and want space to invest beyond the next 90 days.
• Smaller caps with lean finance teams; halving filings saves time and cash.
• IPO pipeline & public markets, per Dimon/Buffett: less reporting burden could make listing more appealing.
• Long-term operators.

“It may help companies operate better,” says Pacer ETFs’ Sean O’Hara—less quarter-to-quarter whiplash, more strategy.

But expect a trade-off: with fewer checkpoints, volatility around earnings days could spike, Interactive Brokers’ Steve Sosnick notes. Less frequent guidance = more guesswork.

Losers:

• Options traders who dine out on earnings-season swings—fewer events, fewer set-piece trades.
• Sell-side analysts who rely on quarterly prints to fine-tune models and ratings.
• Transparency hawks—including pension funds—who fear thinner disclosure weakens investor protections and governance.

Quarterlies became touchpoints for the Robinhood/Reddit era. Cut them, and retail risks feeling shut out.

“Retail sticks with you when they feel connected to the brand—if you stay in frequent touch,” says Townsend Belisle of Haystack Needle.

Platforms are leaning in: Robinhood added a social layer for tracking calls; retail now accounts for roughly a quarter of trading volume and fuels many top YTD movers.

Comms folks say companies won’t go dark:

“Very few will limit themselves to the minimum,” says Kelly Sullivan of Joele Frank. Expect podcasts, short videos, LinkedIn/X explainers—Lyft’s CEO even mused about podcast-style earnings.

Caveat: between formal reports, institutions may still get more access than retail.

“The game is being changed to put them at another disadvantage,” warns Stocktwits’ Tom Bruni.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent backs the shift: fewer filings could cut costs, revive public markets, and even attract foreign listings that like US valuations but not US paperwork. The number of US listed companies has already shrunk from 7,000+ (1996) to under 4,000 (2020). A lighter reporting cadence could be one lure.

SEC still calls the shots. Even if rules change, many issuers may voluntarily keep quarterly updates to maintain credibility and internal discipline. Several communicators say quarterlies function as an “accountability metronome.”

Comparability quirks. Foreign private issuers (think Arm, Spotify) already skip quarterlies here—some voluntarily report anyway. The Council of Institutional Investors still argues less frequent reporting may not “sufficiently” protect investors.

Global norms aren’t uniform. China is quarterly; Hong Kong, UK, EU are semiannual—with flexibility. Emulating “China’s long view” doesn’t neatly map to its disclosure cadence.

What to watch next

1. SEC agenda: Does the commission even take this up—and how? A straight rule change or a more flexible “comply or explain”?
2. Issuer behavior: Do mega-caps stick with quarterly updates to keep index funds and retail happy? Do small caps bolt for semiannual to save cash?
3. Market mechanics: If updates halve, do we see fatter spreads and bigger post-print moves?
4. Access parity: Will companies formalize retail-friendly IR (open Q&As, podcasts, short-form explainers) to offset fewer filings—or lean harder into private briefings with institutions?
5. Listings calculus: Do European firms cite lighter reporting as one more reason to choose the NYSE/Nasdaq over home exchanges?

Semiannual reporting would hand executives more breathing room and shave costs—but it also blurs the picture for investors in between updates. If companies fill the gap with credible, consistent communication (not hype), the market can adapt. If not, expect more rumor-driven trading, a wider info gap between pros and retail, and a fresh fight over how much transparency American capitalism really needs.

Axios and CNBC contributed to this report.