Non-Earnings Corporate Guidance

Using hand-collected data, we show that disclosure of non-earnings guidance, especially that about a firm’s long-term value creation — capital expenditure (CAPEX) guidance and strategic plan disclosure (SPD) — was common even before the debate on earnings guidance gained momentum. Firms with high long-term institutional ownership tend to provide both earnings and CAPEX guidance rather than only one of them. Turnaround firms tend to provide SPD in lieu of earnings guidance, whereas growth firms tend to provide earnings guidance without SPD. Our findings suggest that before the trade associations injected themselves into the earnings guidance debate, managers’ investment/strategy guidance was common and their choices of CAPEX/SPD vs. earnings guidance were consistent with economic theories. These findings belie the trade associations' concerns that corporate guidance behaviors have contributed to earnings fixation and short-termism in the capital markets.