Guidance analysis reveals ongoing uncertainty

Q1 earnings saw an unprecedented volume of companies withdrawing guidance due to ongoing market disruptions resulting from COVID-19. As Q2 earnings wraps up, management positions continue to reflect the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the continued pandemic response.

This quarter, however, we began to see some companies reinstating previously withdrawn guidance, while others maintained their ambiguous position and declined to provide quarterly or annual guidance.

To understand which companies have been commenting on guidance and what positions they’ve taken over time, take a look at company commentary we’ve compiled below.

 

Overall, about 50% of the companies we analyzed provided guidance. The Consumer Discretionary and Real Estate sectors are not providing guidance at higher rates than other sectors. Energy, Financials and Materials companies appeared more confident, sharing guidance at higher rates.

 

 

Takeaways:

• Since the huge spike in guidance withdrawals this Spring, companies have taken different approaches to providing guidance Q2 earnings, with a near even split between companies providing guidance and those declining to do so
• Consumer Discretionary companies declined to provide guidance most often, accounting for 19% of companies not providing guidance this quarter
• Information Technology companies account for 17% of companies declining to provide guidance and 24% of companies sharing guidance this quarter, showing a split in confidence across the sector
• Lockheed Martin, KeyCorp, Iqvia and others increased guidance after tailwinds from COVID demand showed better-than-expected results
• Some companies, including 3M, are no longer providing quarterly or annual guidance are updating investors monthly instead

AlphaSense can track management commentary on guidance in real-time across the entire market, by industry, or watchlist. Start your free trial of AlphaSense now or login to your account.

See the non-exhaustive list of companies with a $5B+ market cap and their Q2 updates on guidance below:

Company	GICS	Date of Original Status Update	Status	Q2 Update
Slack Technologies, Inc. Class A	Information Technology	6/4	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Pan American Silver Corp.	Materials	6/1	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Singapore Telecommunications Limited	Communication Services	5/27	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Dentsu Group Inc.	Communication Services	5/27	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Anaplan, Inc.	Information Technology	5/26	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Koc Holding A.S.	Industrials	5/22	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Hormel Foods Corporation	Consumer Staples	5/21	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Nordson Corporation	Industrials	5/20	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Walmart Inc.	Consumer Staples	5/19	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
D.R. Horton, Inc.	Consumer Discretionary	5/19	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Poste Italiane SpA	Financials	5/13	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.	Materials	5/11	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Genpact Limited	Information Technology	5/11	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Continental Resources, Inc.	Energy	5/11	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Credicorp Ltd.	Financials	5/8	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp	Materials	5/7	Withdraw	Provided guidance
WEX Inc.	Information Technology	5/7	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Waste Connections, Inc.	Industrials	5/7	Withdraw	Provided Guidance
Universal Display Corporation	Industrials	5/7	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
UDR, Inc.	Real Estate	5/7	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Trade Desk, Inc.	Information Technology	5/7	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
TELUS Corporation	Communication Services	5/7	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Motorola Solutions, Inc.	Information Technology	5/7	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Intuit Inc.	Information Technology	5/7	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Guardant Health, Inc.	Healthcare	5/7	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
FleetCor Technologies, Inc.	Information Technology	5/7	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Fiserv, Inc.	Information Technology	5/7	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Cognizant Technology Solutions	Information Technology	5/7	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Becton, Dickinson and Company	Healthcare	5/7	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Wolters Kluwer NV	Industrials	5/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Waste Management, Inc.	Industrials	5/6	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Twilio, Inc.	Information Technology	5/6	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, S.A.	Industrials	5/6	Withdraw	Provided guidance
PPD, Inc.	Healthcare	5/6	Withdraw	Provided guidance
PayPal Holdings Inc	Information Technology	5/6	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Invitation Homes, Inc.	Real Estate	5/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Fortinet, Inc.	Information Technology	5/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
FLIR Systems, Inc.	Information Technology	5/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Extra Space Storage Inc.	Real Estate	5/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Essex Property Trust, Inc.	Real Estate	5/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Corteva Inc	Materials	5/6	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Ceridian HCM Holding, Inc.	Information Technology	5/6	Withdraw	Provided guidance
CenturyLink, Inc.	Communication Services	5/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
TransDigm Group Incorporated	Industrials	5/5	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
PerkinElmer, Inc.	Healthcare	5/5	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation	Industrials	5/4	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Honeywell International Inc.	Industrials	5/1	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Colgate-Palmolive Company	Consumer Staples	5/1	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Co.	Financials	4/30	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Teleflex Incorporated	Healthcare	4/30	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Pentair plc	Industrials	4/30	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Lloyds Banking Group plc	Financials	4/30	Withdraw	Provided Guidance
Kilroy Realty Corporation	Real Estate	4/30	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
International Paper Company	Materials	4/30	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc.	Healthcare	4/30	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Eaton Corp. Plc	Industrials	4/30	Withdraw	Provided guidance
DSV Panalpina A/S	Transportation	4/30	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Church & Dwight Co., Inc.	Consumer Staples	4/30	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Altria Group Inc	Consumer Staples	4/30	Withdraw	Provided guidance
CACI International	Information Technology	4/30	Hold	Provided guidance
Yum! Brands, Inc.	Consumer Discretionary	4/29	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Tyler Technologies, Inc.	Information Technology	4/29	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings	Healthcare	4/29	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Klepierre SA	Real Estate	4/29	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Humana Inc.	Healthcare	4/29	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Fair Isaac Corporation	Information Technology	4/29	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Donaldson Company, Inc.	Industrials	4/29	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
BASF SE	Materials	4/29	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Anthem, Inc.	Healthcare	4/29	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Align Technology, Inc.	Healthcare	4/29	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Zebra Technologies	Information Technology	4/28	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Waters Corporation	Healthcare	4/28	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Universal Health Services	Healthcare	4/28	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Trans Union	Industrials	4/28	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
SiriusXM	Communication Services	4/28	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Paycom Software, Inc.	Information Technology	4/28	Withdraw	Provided guidance
ONEOK, Inc.	Energy	4/28	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Mondelez International, Inc. Class A	Consumer Staples	4/28	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Juniper Networks, Inc.	Information Technology	4/28	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Caterpillar Inc.	Industrials	4/28	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
3M	Industrials	4/28	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Novartis	Healthcare	4/28	Hold	Provided guidance
Pfizer	Healthcare	4/28	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Merck & Co	Healthcare	4/28	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Verizon	Communication Services	4/24	Withdraw	Provided guidance
PulteGroup, Inc.	Consumer Discretionary	4/23	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Eli Lilly	Healthcare	4/23	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated	Healthcare	4/22	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Kimberly-Clark Corporation	Consumer Staples	4/22	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Lyft Inc	Industrials	4/21	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
HCA Healthcare Inc	Healthcare	4/21	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Entegris, Inc.	Information Technology	4/21	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Dover Corp	Industrials	4/21	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Carlisle Companies Incorporated	Industrials	4/21	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Atos SE	Information Technology	4/21	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Philip Morris	Consumer Staples	4/21	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Lockheed Martin	Industrials	4/21	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Emerson Electric	Energy	4/21	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Vale SA	Materials	4/20	Withdraw	Provided guidance
IBM	Information Technology	4/20	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Equifax Inc	Industrials	4/20	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Kansas City Southen	Industrials	4/17	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Volkswagen	Industrials	4/16	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Sonoco	Materials	4/16	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Keycorp	Financials	4/16	Withdraw	Provided guidance
CDW	Information Technology	4/16	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Abbott	Healthcare	4/16	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Camden Property Trust	Real Estate	4/15	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Howmet Aerospace	Industrials	4/14	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Roku	Communication Services	4/13	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Mettler-Toledo International	Healthcare	4/13	Withdraw	Provided guidance
FIS	Information Technology	4/13	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Agilent Technologies	Healthcare	4/13	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Advance Auto Parts	Consumer Discretionary	4/10	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Realty Income	Real Estate	4/9	Withdraw	Provided guidance
EPAM	Information Technology	4/9	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Diageo	Consumer Discretionary	4/9	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Allegion	Industrials	4/9	Withdraw	Provided guidance
FactSet	Financials	4/9	Hold	Provided guidance
Starbuck’s	Consumer Discretionary	4/8	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Masco	Industrials	4/8	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Heineken	Consumer Staples	4/8	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
SAP	Information Technology	4/8	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Pinterest	Communication Services	4/7	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Hologic	Healthcare	4/7	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Henkel AG	Consumer Staples	4/7	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Deutsche Post	Industrials	4/7	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Zimmer Biomet	Healthcare	4/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Thermo Fischer Scientific	Healthcare	4/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Penumbra	Healthcare	4/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Henry Schein	Healthcare	4/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Global Payments Inc	Information Technology	4/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Genuine Parts	Consumer Discretionary	4/6	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
HP	Information Technology	4/6	Uncertain	Provided guidance
Service Corp International	Consumer Discretionary	4/3	Withdraw	Provided guidance
RTL Group	Communication Services	4/3	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Carrier	Industrials	4/3	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Bae Systems	Industrials	4/3	Uncertain	Provided guidance
Iqvia	Healthcare	4/3	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Textron	Industrials	4/2	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Stanley Black & Decker	Industrials	4/2	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
GoDaddy	Information Technology	4/2	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Etsy	Consumer Discretionary	4/2	Withdraw	Provided guidance
National Grid	Utilities	4/2	Hold	Provided guidance
T-Mobile	Communication Services	4/1	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Shopify	Information Technology	4/1	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Lamb Weston	Consumer Staples	4/1	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Kinross Gold	Materials	4/1	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Continental AG	Industrials	4/1	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Masimo Corp	Healthcare	4/1	Uncertain	Not providing guidance
Kroger Co	Consumer Staples	4/1	Hold	Not providing guidance
Xylem	Industrials	3/31	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Stryker	Healthcare	3/31	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Munich Re	Financials	3/31	Withdraw	Provided guidance
McCormick	Consumer Staples	3/31	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Dollar Tree	Consumer Discretionary	3/31	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Imperial Oil	Energy	3/31	Adjustments	Not providing guidance
Conagra	Consumer Staples	3/31	Adjustments	Provided guidance
UPM	Materials	3/30	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Netapp	Information Technology	3/30	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Domino’s Pizza, Inc.	Consumer Discretionary	3/30	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Boston Scientific	Healthcare	3/30	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Smith & Nephew	Healthcare	3/30	Uncertain	Not providing guidance
Abb Ltd	Industrials	3/30	Uncertain	Provided guidance
QBE Insurance	Financials	3/29	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Western Union	Information Technology	3/27	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Molson Coors	Consumer Staples	3/27	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Bruker	Healthcare	3/27	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
VMWare	Information Technology	3/26	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Umicore	Materials	3/26	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Scout24 AG	Communication Services	3/26	Withdraw	Provided guidance
MTU Aero Engines	Industrials	3/26	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Magna International	Consumer Discretionary	3/26	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Lululemon	Consumer Discretionary	3/26	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
LKQ Corp	Consumer Discretionary	3/26	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Infineon	Information Technology	3/26	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Dell	Information Technology	3/26	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Analog Devices	Information Technology	3/26	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Ugi Corp	Utilities	3/26	Uncertain	Provided guidance
Telia	Communication Services	3/26	Uncertain	Provided guidance
Splunk	Information Technology	3/26	Uncertain	Not providing guidance
Kion group	Industrials	3/26	Uncertain	Not providing guidance
Novo Nordisk	Healthcare	3/26	Hold	Provided Guidance
Paychex Inc	Information Technology	3/26	Adjustments	Provided Guidance
Whirlpool	Consumer Discretionary	3/25	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
SunPower Corp	Information Technology	3/25	Withdraw	Provided Guidance
Mid America Apartment Communities	Real Estate	3/25	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Nike	Consumer Discretionary	3/25	Uncertain	Not providing guidance
Square	Financials	3/24	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
GM	Industrials	3/24	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
elanco	Healthcare	3/24	Withdraw	Provided Guidance
Agnico Eagle Mines	Materials	3/24	Withdraw	Provided Guidance
Suncor	Energy	3/24	Adjustments	Provided Guidance
IHS Markit	Industrials	3/24	Adjustments	Provided Guidance
Chevron	Energy	3/24	Adjustments	Provided Guidance
Unibail-Rodamco	Real Estate	3/23	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Newmont	Materials	3/23	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Deere & Co	Industrials	3/23	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Cummins	Industrials	3/23	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Best Buy	Consumer Discretionary	3/23	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Sysco	Consumer Staples	3/20	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
RPM	Materials	3/20	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
BMW	Consumer Discretionary	3/20	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Target	Consumer Discretionary	3/19	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Ford	Industrials	3/19	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Exact Sciences	Healthcare	3/19	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Darden Restaurant	Consumer Discretionary	3/19	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Cintas	Industrials	3/19	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Burlington Stores	Consumer Discretionary	3/19	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
KDP	Consumer Staples	3/19	Adjustments	Provided guidance
ConocoPhillips	Energy	3/18	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Tapestry	Consumer Discretionary	3/18	Adjustments	Not providing guidance
General Mills Inc	Consumer Staples	3/18	Adjustments	Not providing guidance
Lam Research	Information Technology	3/17	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Capri	Consumer Discretionary	3/17	Uncertain	Not providing guidance
Baxter	Healthcare	3/17	Uncertain	Provided guidance
Broadcom Inc	Information Technology	3/12	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Ulta Beauty	Consumer Discretionary	3/12	Uncertain	Not providing guidance
Gap	Consumer Discretionary	3/12	Uncertain	Not providing guidance
TransUnion	Industrials	3/12	Hold	Provided Guidance
Parker-Hannifin	Industrials	3/12	Hold	Provided guidance
CVS	Healthcare	3/12	Hold	Provided guidance
Huntington Bancshares	Financials	3/11	Uncertain	Provided guidance
Sherwin Williams	Materials	3/11	Hold	Provided guidance
Cigna	Healthcare	3/11	Hold	Provided guidance
Moody’s	Financials	3/11	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Royal Caribbean	Consumer Discretionary	3/10	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Delta Air Lines Inc	Industrials	3/10	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
The Cooper Companies Inc	Healthcare	3/10	Hold	Not providing guidance
Anthem Inc	Healthcare	3/10	Hold	Provided guidance
Host Hotels	Consumer Discretionary	3/9	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Bookings Holdings	Consumer Discretionary	3/9	Withdraw	Not providing guidance
Advanced Micro Devices Inc	Information Technology	3/5	Hold	Provided guidance
Marvell Technology	Information Technology	3/5	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Home Depot	Consumer Discretionary	3/4	Hold	Not providing guidance
Brown-Forman	Consumer Staples	3/4	Adjustments	Not providing guidance
United Rentals	Industrials	3/3	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Qorvo	Information Technology	3/3	Adjustments	Provided guidance
Microchip Technology	Information Technology	3/2	Withdraw	Provided guidance
Fidelity National Information Services	Information Technology	3/2	Hold	Not providing guidance
Nutanix	Information Technology	3/2	Adjustments	Not providing guidance
Apple	Information Technology	2/18	Adjustments	Not providing guidance