Here’s what market pros think about Trump’s idea to end quarterly reporting for companies

• Trump said he would like to see companies report earnings every six months instead of quarterly.

• His proposal aims to reduce costs and encourage longer-term planning for companies, he said.

• Experts have mixed views, citing both potential benefits for companies and concerns for investors.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that it would be better for public companies to report earnings every six months instead of quarterly, and that change is “subject to SEC approval.”

Market pros are pretty mixed on the idea.

Trump thinks it would allow firms to take a longer-term approach to planning and reduce costs associated with reporting financials.

“This will save money, and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies,” he wrote in a Truth Social post. “Did you ever hear the statement that, “China has a 50 to 100 year view on management of a company, whereas we run our companies on a quarterly basis???” Not good!!!”

It’s not the first time he’s talked about this idea. He floated it in his first term, too. Others, including Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffett, at least partly agree with Trump’s assessment. The pair wrote an op-ed in 2018 advocating for companies to stop reporting quarterly guidance, saying that the practice promotes short-termism.

“The pressure to meet short-term earnings estimates has contributed to the decline in the number of public companies in America over the past two decades,” they wrote. “Short-term-oriented capital markets have discouraged companies with a longer-term view from going public at all, depriving the economy of innovation and opportunity.”

But Trump’s idea goes further than what Dimon and Buffett proposed, and market players speaking with Business Insider on Monday had mixed views on the prospect of companies only reporting results twice a year.

Dominic Pappalardo, chief multi-asset strategist at Morningstar Wealth, noted some positives. He said a six-month reporting timeline would reduce both pressure on businesses and volatility for investors.

“We’ve all heard stories of executives making short-term decisions trying to hit next quarter’s earnings number or revenue growth forecast. Slowing down that cycle may take the pressure off and allow them to take a longer-term outlook and not necessarily worry about what’s coming in one, two, three months down the road.”

Kristin Hull, CIO and founder at Nia Impact Capital, was somewhat less optimistic about the president’s idea.

“As an active investor, we do want transparency from companies — we want to know what’s happening. And yet we also want to see all of our companies working on long-term strategic plans. So I really am mixed,” she said.