Report: Wall Street’s 90-Day Earnings Cycle Faces the Axe Under SEC Proposal

Wall Street may soon lose one of its favorite quarterly rituals — the corporate earnings confessional — as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) quietly drafts a proposal that could let public companies report results just twice a year instead of every three months.

Semiannual Reporting May Replace Quarterly Earnings Under New SEC Plan

Yes, the quarterly earnings treadmill — that relentless hamster wheel where executives promise growth, analysts nitpick decimals, and CEOs sweat through conference calls — may finally get a polite shove toward retirement.

According to people familiar with the matter speaking with the Wall Street Journal’s Corrie Driebusch, the SEC is preparing a rulemaking proposal that would make quarterly reporting optional for U.S. public companies. Instead of filing the familiar Form 10-Q every three months, companies could choose to report results only twice a year, alongside the annual Form 10-K.

The proposal could appear as soon as April, though the agency has yet to release a formal statement. Behind the scenes, regulators have already been speaking with major stock exchanges about how their listing rules might need to change if the reporting calendar suddenly stops acting like a metronome.

For decades, quarterly reporting has been one of Wall Street’s sacred cows. Since the early 1970s, companies listed on U.S. exchanges have been required to disclose financial performance every three months under the Securities Exchange Act framework.

But critics have long argued that the ritual encourages what economists politely call “short-termism” and what executives often call something far less polite.

The idea of loosening the schedule has been floating around the regulatory cocktail party for years. President Donald Trump publicly called for an end to mandatory quarterly reporting in September 2025, reviving a debate that has popped up periodically in Washington since at least 2018.

Heavyweights of corporate America have also taken swings at the quarterly cycle. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett famously criticized the obsession with three-month scorecards, arguing that it pressures companies to chase quick wins rather than long-term growth. Enter the current SEC leadership.

Under Chairman Paul Atkins, the agency has signaled a broader push to reduce disclosure burdens and encourage capital formation — a phrase that, translated from regulatory dialect, roughly means “make going public less painful.”

The reported proposal would not ban quarterly reporting. Companies that prefer the current schedule could keep it. The rule would simply give firms the option to switch to semiannual filings if they believe fewer reports make sense for their business.

Other disclosure mechanisms would remain in place. Companies could still release earnings updates voluntarily, issue guidance and file Form 8-K reports for major events such as mergers, leadership changes or significant financial developments. In other words, the SEC wouldn’t be closing the information pipeline. It would just loosen the valve.

Supporters argue the change could reduce compliance costs and free executives from spending half their lives preparing earnings decks and rehearsing carefully worded explanations about why revenue missed estimates by 0.7%.

Smaller companies, in particular, could benefit. Preparing quarterly filings requires extensive internal reviews, legal oversight and accounting work — a process that consumes time, money and patience in roughly equal proportions. Critics, of course, see the proposal as a transparency risk.

Investor advocates warn that fewer mandatory disclosures could widen information gaps between corporate insiders and everyday investors. The longer the gap between required reports, they argue, the more room there is for confusion, speculation and the occasional unpleasant surprise.

Still, the global precedent is hard to ignore.

Many major markets already operate with semiannual reporting requirements. The European Union scrapped mandatory quarterly reports in 2013, and countries including the United Kingdom and Australia rely largely on half-year disclosures with optional updates.

Despite that, large corporations in those markets often continue issuing quarterly numbers voluntarily — because investors expect them. That same dynamic could play out in the United States. Many large-cap firms may decide sticking with quarterly updates is simply good business, even if regulators stop insisting on it.

If the SEC moves forward, the proposal would begin a standard rulemaking process that includes a public comment period and a commission vote before any final rule takes effect. Translation: This isn’t happening tomorrow. But the gears are clearly turning.

And if the change does land, it would mark one of the most significant shifts in U.S. corporate disclosure rules in more than half a century — a moment when Wall Street might finally get permission to stop checking its watch every 90 days. Cue the analysts, clutching their spreadsheets.

FAQ 🔎

• Is the SEC eliminating quarterly earnings reports entirely?

No — the proposal would make quarterly reporting optional, allowing companies to choose semiannual filings instead.

• When could the SEC release the official proposal?

People familiar with the matter say the draft rule could appear as early as April 2026.

• Would companies still disclose major financial developments?

Yes, companies would still use Form 8-K and voluntary updates to report significant events between scheduled filings.

• Why does the SEC want to change quarterly reporting rules?

Regulators and corporate leaders argue fewer mandatory filings could reduce compliance costs and encourage long-term business planning.