Ad execs hope quarterly earnings reform can ease short-termism, but it's no silver bullet

"At the end of this month, they'll want to see early evidence that projected holiday sales are materializing. Positive noises on the next quarterly call would buy Hill more space and time, while negative or neutral signals will reduce his room for movement. It'll be a crucial test for the apparel brand, one its leaders might wish they could postpone."

"This kind of crunch has become endemic within marketing. Relief may come from an unlikely direction: the notably impatient President Donald Trump, who this week called for an end to quarterly earnings reports for public companies, a requirement enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on his social media platform Truth Social. Most ad execs hate Trump's guts, but could find an ally in the commander-in-chief should the SEC's promise to "prioritize" his proposal lead to actual policy change."

"In recent years, they've become struggle sessions for the boardroom set and been blamed for a culture of short-term thinking throughout the entire corporate world. Critics like Warren Buffett have long argued that Wall Street expectations of perpetual quarter-upon-quarter growth leads companies to hold back on long-term investments in staff, research or equipment in favor of financial engineering that delivers quarterly sugar hits and detracts from sustainable growth."

Elliott Hill faces a pivotal holiday sales period that will signal whether the Nike turnaround is gaining traction. Quarterly earnings calls create intense pressure on executives to show immediate results, constraining strategic choices and potentially delaying long-term investments. Calls by President Donald Trump to end quarterly reporting have drawn attention from marketers seeking relief, and the SEC has indicated it may prioritize that proposal. Quarterly reports are intended to provide transparency but have been criticised for encouraging short-term thinking. Surveys and prominent investors note that executives often postpone projects to meet quarterly expectations, undermining sustainable growth.

Read at Digiday