President Donald Trump is urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to end quarterly earnings reports for public companies. Instead, he is calling for the reports to be delivered every six months.
Since 1970, companies with more than $10 million in assets whose securities are held by more than 500 owners must report their financials every 90 days under the SEC’s rules. A shift to semi-annual reporting would put disclosures for U.S. companies in line with reporting practices in the U.K. and several other countries within the European Union.
“Subject to SEC Approval, Companies and Corporations should no longer be forced to ‘Report’ on a quarterly basis (Quarterly Reporting!), but rather to Report on a ‘Six (6) Month Basis.’ This will save money, and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies,” Trump wrote in a Monday Truth Social post. “Did you ever hear the statement that, ‘China has a 50 to 100 year view on management of a company, whereas we run our companies on a quarterly basis???’ Not good!!!”
An SEC spokesperson told TheWrap that the agency and its chairman Paul Atkins are “prioritizing this proposal to further eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens on companies.”
The latest call from Trump comes after he previously explored the idea in his first term. The current leadership at the SEC has expressed an interest in reducing regulation, including simplifying pathways for raising capital and investor access to private businesses.
In March 2024, Truth Social’s parent company Trump Media Technology Group went public through a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
During its second quarter of 2025, TMTG reported a net loss of $20 million, which included $20.5 million in non-cash expenses for “stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization, interest expense and income taxes,” while revenue rose 6% to $900,000.
The results were impacted by $15 million in legal costs for the quarter related to its SPAC merger. TMTG ended the quarter with $2.3 million in cash flow from operating activities and $3.1 billion in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, trading securities and short-term investments.
The Long Term Stock Exchange, which said it planned to petition the SEC to do away with the quarterly requirement last week, has said the move could lead to “more strategic company insights while reducing short-term volatility and better alignment of corporate management to investor interests.”
“As CEOs, we absolutely have to deliver on short-term metrics; both our customers and investors depend on it,” LTSE CEO Maliz Beams said in a statement. “But the key is including short-term targets as deliberate mile markers on the path to long-term value creation. This petition takes a critical step toward enabling genuinely long-term companies to focus on sustainable growth rather than quarterly noise.”
In 2018, Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and nearly 200 chief executive officers from major U.S. companies represented by the Business Roundtable also advocated for a shift away from the quarterly reporting requirement in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
“In our experience, quarterly earnings guidance often leads to an unhealthy focus on short-term profits at the expense of long-term strategy, growth and sustainability,” they wrote at the time. “Companies frequently hold back on technology spending, hiring, and research and development to meet quarterly earnings forecasts that may be affected by factors outside the company’s control, such as commodity-price fluctuations, stock-market volatility and even the weather.”
Meanwhile, the SEC says on its website that the reporting requirements “keep shareholders and the markets informed on a regular basis in a transparent manner.”
“Timely and accurate financial information is the lifeblood of financial markets,” CFA Institute’s Research and Policy Center wrote. “Quarterly reporting of financial information creates a more level playing field for access to financial information between insiders and outside investors and shareowners, and ultimately promotes greater investor confidence and improved capital allocation.”
