Day: March 17, 2026

The push for semiannual reporting gained steam late last year. The Long-Term Stock Exchange petitioned the SEC to eliminate the quarterly earnings report requirement, The Wall Street Journal reported in September. Within days, President Trump and SEC Chairman Paul Atkins both said they supported the idea.

Publicly traded companies in the U.S. have reported results every three months for the past 50-plus years. Trump briefly explored the idea of moving to semiannual earnings reports during his first term, but the effort went nowhere.

Those in favor of less-frequent reporting requirements believe a switch could help boost the shrinking number of public companies in the U.S. Among the reasons companies cite as to why they remain private is the time-consuming and costly clerical work required to list and maintain publicly traded shares.

Any change is likely to face opposition from investors who rely on the transparency of regular disclosures.