More on the end of quarterly guidance

There are those that think the drop in the number of companies offering quarterly earnings guidance recently is related to Sarbanes-Oxley. I think the link is suspect, but the law may play a role, as does Reg FD. The bottom line is that we're seeing more and more companies give up on what was once a standard practice. There is a concerted move underway to get the markets and people to focus more on the long-term. The Conference Board has issued a call for the end of quarterly guidance. But let's face it. This has been an issue for decades. Small companies especially need the guidance to drum up interest, and leaving the issue of quarterly earnings up to the analysts may not be smart either. But there could be a call for standards and best-practices on how best to come up with quarterly guidance. There's a lot of gamesmanship now.

For more:
- here's an AP article about less guidance being offered. Article
- here's an overview from cfo.com
- Do companies use guidance to set up the market for surprises? Article