Big Companies Treat Strategy Like an Annual Event. Markets Don’t.

The core idea

Most large companies say strategy should be “always on.” In practice, they behave as if strategy is something you do once a year, then hope it survives contact with reality.

Looking at the public calendars and announcements of leading Fortune 500 firms, a clear pattern emerges: strategy is decided in the last quarter of the year and announced in a short burst around January–February. After that, the story rarely changes unless there is a crisis or a deal.

That timing might suit reporting cycles. It does not match how fast markets, technology and regulation now move.

How the annual strategy ritual works

If you sit in a big listed company, this rhythm will feel familiar.

• Q4: the real strategy work happens. In October and November, business units submit plans, executives argue over trade‑offs, and the corporate centre decides what the company will do next year. Budgets and capital allocation are tied up before year‑end so they can be baked into Q4 earnings and guidance.

• January–February: strategy goes public.Q4 earnings season, from mid‑January to late February, becomes the main stage. Annual results, the story about “where we’re going,” and the numbers that support it all land together. Investors expect it. Management teams plan for it. The whole system is wired for a big annual reveal.

After that, the next 10 months are essentially a long commentary track: each quarter’s results are measured against the January story.

Different industries, same mindset

Industries dress this pattern up in different ways, but the underlying habit is the same: strategy is treated as episodic.

• Banks and financial services: Big banks often use spring or early‑summer investor days to go deeper into the plan they announced in January. The message doesn’t fundamentally change; they’re reinforcing guidance with a bit of hindsight from the first quarter.

• Energy companies: Oil and gas majors frequently issue detailed “corporate plan updates” in November or December, separate from earnings. They lay out multi‑year production and capital plans before year‑end, then use Q4 earnings later to talk about performance against that plan.

• Tech firms: Tech companies spread the story around: CEO letters, developer conferences, and very detailed quarterly earnings calls. It sounds more continuous, but the real weight still sits with the annual plan, the fiscal‑year cycle, and early‑year guidance.

• Retail and healthcare: Retailers often hold strategy days in April, once the dust has settled on the holiday season. Healthcare players lean heavily on big December/January investor conferences plus Q4 earnings. Different months, same basic pattern: one big strategy moment, then execution until the next one.

The missing piece: continuous governance

What’s largely missing is clear evidence of large companies running genuinely continuous strategic oversight between those set‑piece events.

The gap shows up in three ways:

• There is no shared habit of keeping the core assumptions behind the strategy visible and up to date as new information arrives.

• The innovation and options portfolio is rarely treated as something distinct, with its own rules and protections. It is more often a discretionary spend that gets trimmed when earnings are tight.

• Boards and executives rarely have a live view of strategic health. They see performance against last quarter’s plan, not a dynamic picture of whether the strategy itself still fits the world.

Without that, strategy becomes something you “lock in” once a year. The world changes faster than that.

Why this matters for leaders

For boards, CFOs and strategy leaders, three implications stand out:

1. Recognise the annual ritual for what it is.The Q4–Q1 rhythm is useful for coordination and disclosure, but it shouldn’t be the only time you question the strategy itself.

2. Make assumptions and options visible.Don’t just track KPIs. Track the assumptions the strategy depends on, and the early‑stage bets you’re making for the future. Treat them as things that need active governance, not background noise.

3. Govern renewal, not just performance.Quarterly reporting tells you how you performed under the current strategy. You also need a way to see whether you’re building the next wave of advantage—or quietly running down your future.

Most big companies will probably keep their annual strategy ritual. The competitive edge will go to those who learn to govern strategy between those rituals: treating strategy not as a deck you publish once a year, but as a living system that needs attention every week.

This research was conducted to support the CSOsandbox podcast channel and can be accessed via your favourite podcast channel; https://csosandbox.buzzsprout.com/2203243

References

1. Internal research memo, “Strategic Announcement Patterns in Fortune 500 Companies: A Comparative Analysis,” unpublished working document summarising timing, cadence and sector patterns for 30 companies in the top 100 of the Fortune 500.

2. FINRA Investor Insights, “What Is Earnings Season?” (overview of how quarterly and especially Q4 earnings seasons are timed and how they anchor investor attention).

3. Bankrate, “What Is Earnings Season and Why It Matters to Investors” (discussion of typical earnings‑season windows and why Q4 is a focal point for guidance and forward‑looking commentary).

4. Dragonboat, “Lead Strategic Planning” (practical guidance recommending that large companies begin annual strategic and portfolio planning at the start of Q4 so plans and budgets are ready for year‑end and Q4 earnings).

5. LinkedIn article on Fortune 500 planning practices (explains how divisions submit plans in Q4 which are then consolidated into corporate strategy ahead of Q4 announcements).

6. JPMorgan Chase and other large‑bank investor day materials (e.g., May investor days where banks reaffirm or elaborate on guidance set in January Q4 earnings).

7. ExxonMobil investor relations calendar and “Corporate Plan Update” materials (examples of November/December corporate plan updates providing multi‑year capital and production guidance separate from Q4 earnings).

8. Chevron Investor Day 2025 presentation and related press releases (November investor day outlining a multi‑year plan, capital framework and free‑cash‑flow targets).

9. Microsoft CEO annual letter and major tech‑firm earnings transcripts (examples of strategy being communicated via annual letters, developer conferences and quarterly calls while still tied to an annual planning and guidance cycle).

10. Walmart and other major retailers’ investor day materials (April investor days used to explain strategic shifts informed by holiday‑season performance).

11. Presentations from major December/January healthcare investor conferences (e.g., JP Morgan Healthcare Conference) where large healthcare firms set out pipelines, capital allocation and strategy for the year ahead.