guidance

noun

guid·ance | \ˈgī-dᵊn(t)s

Definition of guidance

1 : the act or process of guiding

2a : the direction provided by a guide couldn't have done it without her guidance

b : advice on vocational or educational problems given to students provides guidance on how to apply for scholarships

3 : the process of controlling the course of a projectile by a built-in mechanism problems with the missile's guidance

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Examples of guidance in a Sentence

I couldn't have done it without her guidance. We need more guidance on how to handle these unusual cases.

Recent Examples on the Web

The guidance on school violence is a follow-up to one published in 2002 in conjunction with an in-depth study of school attacks and perpetrators. — Del Quentin Wilber, WSJ, "Secret Service Issues Guide Aimed at Preventing School Shootings," 12 July 2018 The guidance is part of President Trump's plan to completely revamp the U.S. immigration system. — refinery29.com, "U.S. Will Automatically Reject Asylum Requests From Domestic Violence Survivors," 12 July 2018 The new affirmative action guidance could add to an already contentious fight over the next justice. — Eric Tucker, Houston Chronicle, "Trump revokes Obama policy using race in school admissions," 3 July 2018 Conservative advocacy groups see the resurrection of the Bush-era guidance by the Education Department as a promising sign. — BostonGlobe.com, "Trump to scrap Obama-era affirmative action guidelines," 3 July 2018 The guidance lets companies disclose and discuss with payers certain categories of information, such as unapproved but clinically appropriate indications, pricing, and study results that before would have been considered off limits. — John Osborn, STAT, "FDA allows off-label health care economic discussions. Is there more to come?," 29 June 2018 The movie, which was featured on the 2014 Black List, follows a teen boy coming of age in his dull suburban town under the destructive guidance of his best friend, a charismatic college dropout (Davidson). — Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, "Pete Davidson to Lead Indie 'Big Time Adolescence'," 26 June 2018 Under his guidance, our student-athletes, coaches, and programs have performed at remarkable levels. — Brian Gosset, star-telegram, "Big news out of Aledo regarding athletic director Tim Buchanan," 21 June 2018 Most economists were expecting the asset-purchase programme to be wound down, but the guidance on interest rates came as a surprise. — The Economist, "The ECB puts an expiry date on quantitative easing," 14 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'guidance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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marriage guidance

Statistics for guidance

Last Updated

3 Oct 2018

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Time Traveler for guidance

The first known use of guidance was in 1590

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More Definitions for guidance

guidance

noun

Financial Definition of guidance

What It Is

In the stock world, guidance refers to public communication from a company regarding earnings expectations.

How It Works

The world of earnings guidance is large and fluid, whereby the management of publicly traded companies issue public estimates about what they expect earnings to be for the coming quarter. Guidance is based on management's experience, calculations and outlook, and it significantly influences the analysts covering the stock, because the analysts incorporate the information into their own research and earnings forecasts for their clients.

Before August 2000, it was legal for public companies to provide guidance to chosen analysts rather than publicly disclose their guidance. The SEC's adoption of Regulation FD in August 2000 prohibited this selective disclosure of material nonpublic information, and public companies must now publicly disseminate guidance and earnings estimates to analysts all at the same time.

When management becomes aware that the company probably will not meet the expectations it previously communicated, the company typically issues a profit warning via press release or conference call with analysts several weeks before announcing quarterly earnings.

Why It Matters

Guidance considerably influences stock prices because it helps investors evaluate a stock's potential. If investors expect a company to report, say, $0.10 in earnings per share next quarter, but the company actually reports $0.08, many investors might sell the stock and the company's stock price will therefore probably fall after the announcement. Conversely, if the company reports $0.12, the stock price will probably rise. The degree of "miss" or "surprise" influences how much the stock price will change. This is why guidance is usually a company's attempt to "soften the blow" or “fluff the pillows” before announcing earnings.

Some companies do not give guidance. They usually make that choice to reduce legal liability in the event that management's estimates are wrong. Some analysts claim that companies that do not offer any guidance often receive a "break" on stock price changes when these companies miss earnings, because the market is aware that the company's management has given the analysts (and their resulting estimates) no input.

Source: Investing Answers

guidance

noun