Guidance “Resets” Gain Momentum in Corporate America

Although most consumers don’t know what Fiserv is, the chances are good that they’ve used its financial technology. The company processes payments on everything from pumps at gas stations to ride-sharing apps. Investors, however, may know Fiserv as the company that just saw $30 billion of its market value vanish after withdrawing its economic guidance. A rash of companies have made similar moves lately, rethinking their guidance for a variety of reasons.

At Fiserv, newly installed chief executive Mike Lyons made the call to pull guidance issued by the company before his predecessor Frank Bisignano left for a position in President Donald Trump’s administration. Lyons dismissed what he characterized as “short-term driven” programs inflating Fiserv’s performance and projections. Fiserv also went through a series of C-suite changes in conjunction with its guidance reset, including the departures of the company’s chief financial officer, the chairman of its board of directors and the head of its audit committee.

Meanwhile, upheaval in the auto industry has prompted multiple carmakers to reconsider previously issued guidance. German automaker BMW last month cut its forecasted earnings for 2025, pointing to the impact of tariffs in the United States and a slowdown in its growth in China. Additionally, BMW bumped down its projected return on capital employed to a rate between 8% and 10%, rather than a range between 9% and 13%.

Earlier in the year, U.S.-based car manufacturer General Motors cut its economic guidance in response to changes in tariff policy. Prior to the White House announcing its tariff plans in the spring, GM was forecasting adjusted EBITA in the range of $13.7 billion to $15.7 billion. Following the announcement in April of new tariffs, GM lowered that range to somewhere between $10 billion and $12.5 billion. GM also revised its projections for net income attributable to shareholders and adjusted automotive free cash flow.

Among research firms, Forrester Research Inc. didn’t announce a withdrawal of its guidance last month when it published third-quarter financial results. However, the Massachusetts-based company did alter its 2025 targets. As a result, Forrester now projects a revenue decline and negative operating margin for the year.

Not all updates are negative, however. In a change of pace, a positive public statement from an executive about earnings at Snowflake prompted the data-storage company to issue a Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing came in response to a video posted by Instagram account “theschoolofhardknockz.” It featured an interview with Snowflake Chief Revenue Officer Mike Gannon in which Gannon said the company would have revenue “probably just over about $4.5 billion” for the full fiscal year. Snowflake warned in its 8-K filing that “investors should not rely upon such statements,” and the company has issued guidance projecting revenue of approximately $4.4 billion for the 2026 fiscal year.

Overall, it seems as though companies are operating with an abundance of caution lately when it comes to their guidance for reasons ranging from executive turnover to shifting global market conditions. The end-users of financial statements – including investors, financial analysts and members of the media – may want to adjust their own expectations accordingly when interpreting guidance.