Fewer buyback and dividend increase announcements highlight other ways companies are holding backPeak weeks for Q3 season run from October 23 - November 10
The Late Earnings Report Index tracks outlier earnings date changes among publicly traded companies with market capitalizations of $250M and higher. The LERI has a baseline reading of 100, anything above that indicates companies are feeling uncertain about their current and short-term prospects. A LERI reading under 100 suggests companies feel they have a pretty good crystal ball for the near term.
In another sign that US companies are still acting with caution, the degree to which they return excess profits to investors is cooling. The third quarter of 2023 had the fewest number of buyback announcements in a year, 132 vs. 127 in Q3 2022, and the second lowest amount since COVID-19-related lockdowns occurred in Q2 2020 .In a similar vein, dividend increases have also dampened. In Q3 2023, the number of companies increasing dividends vs.