President Trump suggested yesterday that U.S. public companies should not be required to report earnings quarterly, but on a six-month schedule instead, subject to approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Why it matters: The potential shift could have huge implications for Wall Street, financial markets, companies and traders.

State of play: It's unclear what prompted the president's call. Trump did pursue a similar change in 2018, but proposed it too late to gain traction.

• He has plenty of runway to see it through this time.

What they're saying: In his post about the proposal, Trump cited a 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!!!"

• "If this move from the administration is about emulating China, I didn't really realize that is the direction we were really wanting to take American capitalism," says Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.
• The renewed push comes as administration officials meet with their counterparts from Beijing to discuss trade talks this week.

Catch up quick: The case for less frequent quarterly reports is not without its fans.

• Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffett cowrote an opinion piece about short-term earnings estimates "harming the economy" in 2018.
• It's also not without precedent: The U.K. switched back to semiannual earnings after briefly pivoting to the quarterly model.

The winners: The potential beneficiaries of the shift are those who don't want the expense or hassle of quarterly earnings.

• CEOs who would prefer not to deal with sell-side analysts and investors four times a year.
• Smaller companies with fewer resources may breathe a "sigh of relief," by offering reports half as much, Sosnick says.
• Public markets, according to Dimon and Buffett, who argue the pressure of quarterly earnings discourages firms from going public sooner.
• Fewer earnings mean less clarity going into reports, which could increase volatility, Sosnick says.

The losers: The potential downsides could disproportionately affect market participants.

• Options traders who bet on earnings results (though O'Hara says it "may not be a bad thing" to make it harder for the meme stock crowd to trade).
• Stock analysts who rely on quarterly prints to suss out price targets and ratings on the firms they cover.
• Market participants who like the clarity and transparency that should come with more frequent reports.

Zoom out: This policy rhymes with the administration's broader deregulation push.

• SEC requirements for quarterly reports are extensive, and this change would allow corporates to save time and money by dealing with those reporting structures less frequently.

Yes, but: Investors "have come to expect quarterly reporting and will exert pressure on companies to continue to provide quarterly reporting," Erik Gerding, former director of corporate finance at the SEC, writes to Axios.

What we're watching: Why this is happening now, and what that signals about the administration's goals for financial markets.

President Trump's push for companies to report earnings semiannually could force companies to rethink strategies for engaging retail investors.

Why it matters: Retail traders lack the access to corporate leadership that institutional investors historically enjoy. Fewer earnings reports could raise the stakes for investor relations teams to keep the retail crowd engaged.

What they're saying: Retail shareholders are more likely to buy and hold, even amid downturns, "when they feel connected to a brand…But issuers need to stay in frequent touch with those investors, managing their expectations, in order to earn that loyalty and trust," Townsend Belisle, the CEO of Haystack Needle tells Axios.

• "You're not going to see an across-the-board reaction," says Erik Derging, former director of corporate finance at the SEC.
• The pressure on investor relations teams to engage retail investors will likely correlate with the size of their retail shareholder base.

Situational awareness: The proposed changes come as retail investors have become more formidable, serious market participants.

• Robinhood just launched a social platform within its app that it plans to use for retail investors to monitor earnings calls and reports.
• Nearly half of the top 10 performing stocks year-to-date are retail darlings that have seen fairly consistent inflows from novice traders.
• Companies and banks are making IPOs more accessible to retail investors, which now make up a quarter of trading volume overall.

Between the lines: Shifting to semiannual earnings doesn't mean companies will only communicate with investors twice a year, Kelly Sullivan, a partner at communications firm Joele Frank, tells Axios.

The big picture: Corporates have been testing new channels to communicate with investors in a more retail-friendly way, like through vertical videos, info graphics and across platforms like LinkedIn or X.

• During an appearance on digital show "TBPN," Lyft CEO David Risher said he's interested in delivering earnings in the from of a podcast.

Yes, but: Institutional investors may end up with more access to corporations between semiannual earnings, putting the retail crowd behind just as they were catching up.

• "The game is being changed to help put them at another disadvantage that they didn't have before," Tom Bruni, editor in chief of Stocktwits, tells Axios.

The proposal for fewer corporate earnings reports may affect firms with debt agreements that require quarterly updates.

Why it matters: This could set companies up for conflict with their creditors.

Catch up quick: Many companies are bound by financial covenants in loans, bonds and other agreements.

• These agreements often require quarterly financial updates so that lenders and investors can monitor performance and make sure the company stays on track to meet its side of the financial arrangement.
• This is typically done alongside quarterly corporate earnings.

What they're saying: "Either companies could negotiate for different kinds of covenants or other counterparties could say, 'We don't care what the regulatory requirements are, we still want quarterly financial reports,'" says Gerding, the former SEC director of corporate finance.

• "My guess is that you will see a little bit of both happen with depending on the leverage that an individual corporation has," he says.

Between the lines: Whether companies can actually reduce reporting may depend on their leverage and negotiating power.

• This sets up what Gerding calls a potentially bifurcated system where some companies stick to quarterly updates while others move to the semiannual schedule.

The bottom line: These changes still require approval from the SEC, however given that Trump first proposed the change during his term, it's unlikely this proposal will disappear entirely.