Alternative data providers would likely see an acceleration in demand as corporations convert the time and resources currently spent processing earnings into data that may illuminate the gaps created by less frequent disclosure. In contrast, providers whose products depend on regular submissions to evaluate governance, compensation alignment and ESG progress would face clear challenges.
It is less clear whether the sell-side could be a net winner or a net loser. Much of the stock research, sales and business brokerage activity occurs around earnings season, and without this event trading catalysts would fade. Halving the frequency of formal deliverables would mean fewer opportunities to post notes, host calls and capture customers’ attention.
The financial media would also lose a crucial driver of readership and engagement. A slower cadence would shift narrative power from reported data to speculation, potentially reducing accountability for each journalists and analysts.
Could fewer public earnings releases help preserve the role of equity analysts? The threat of AI to young analysts stays, however the expertise of the experienced sell-side community could turn into more useful. Knowing what inquiries to ask and what data to investigate between formal earnings releases is the staple of a talented analyst, and a slower pace could increase the importance of those skills.
Similarly, less frequent and standardized disclosures would pose challenges to the passive investing ecosystem, which relies on regular, standardized reporting to take care of index accuracy and benchmark integrity. Allocators and institutional managers using these products could be at greater risk of index composition and weighting becoming stale, particularly in volatile markets, increasing the likelihood of tracking error.
