If companies must continue issuing quarterly earnings guidance, they should at least consider following a standard template to improve transparency and comparability, say two corporate think tanks that have gone through the trouble of drafting a template.
The CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity and the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics have jointly published a report calling on companies to improve the quality and clarity of their quarterly earnings announcements by following a standard template. The two groups have openly criticized the practice of issuing earnings guidance, saying it feeds a focus on short-term results.
