The percentage of companies in the US that provide some form of earnings guidance has risen in 2014, hitting the highest level since 2009, according to a survey by NIRI.
Almost all companies (95 percent) provide some form of guidance – non-financial, financial or both – according to the survey of IR professionals by NIRI, which has 3,300 members from more than 1,600 publicly held companies. The figure is up from 88 percent in the last survey in 2012, and up from 90 percent in 2010. It also exceeds the level of 93 percent recorded in 2009.
The survey shows a marked increase in the number of companies offering financial guidance. The percentage has increased to 88 percent in 2014, compared with 76 percent in the 2012 survey, 81 percent in 2010 and 85 percent in 2009. NIRI says the figure has risen by a third since 2007, when only 66 percent of survey respondents said they provided financial guidance.
Two thirds of respondents in 2014 say they provide non-financial, or broad market, guidance, which is up sharply from 44 percent in the 2012 survey, 48 percent in 2010 and 55 percent in 2009. The survey also shows that 68 percent of the companies providing no guidance at all in 2014 have never done so.
Tax rate guidance is offered by 79 percent of the companies surveyed in 2014, making it the most common form of financial guidance this year. Revenue or sales guidance comes next, with 77 percent of companies offering it, followed by capital expenditure guidance, which is offered by 76 percent of respondents. Earnings or EPS guidance is offered by 65 percent.
