Guidance

What company guidance is, the difference between raising, maintaining and cutting it, and why the outlook often moves a stock more than the quarter just reported.

Looking ahead

Many companies give guidance with their earnings reports: their own forecast for revenue, earnings or other key numbers for the next quarter or full year. Guidance matters because stock prices are based on expectations about the future. The quarter that just ended is history; guidance is management’s best view of what comes next.

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