A company's own forecast for its future results, given directly to investors.
Guidance is a company's own projection for how it expects to perform in an upcoming quarter or year, revenue, profit, or both, usually given alongside its latest earnings report. Investors treat it as one of the most important parts of any earnings release, sometimes more important than the results just reported, because it's forward-looking. A company can beat every number for the quarter that just ended and still see its stock drop if it cuts its guidance for what comes next, since markets are always pricing in the future more than the past.
Part of the Open Bell Glossary — plain-English explanations of the terms that come up on the show. Browse every term.