(Bloomberg) -- Everybody makes mistakes, apparently even multi-billion dollar, publicly traded companies that report earnings just four times a year. 

At least three companies — Planet Fitness Inc., Mister Car Wash Inc. and Rivian Automotive Inc. — had to correct parts of their earnings released in the past day. All three cited a “clerical error” in filings Thursday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The mistakes come about a week after Lyft Inc. had to correct its earnings release because of a typo that inflated its outlook and spurred a short-lived surge in the shares, driving home how even seemingly small corporate gaffes can have an outsized market impact. That’s especially the case with earnings reports, arguably the four most important releases that firms put out each year. 

“It certainly seems unusual,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist of Interactive Brokers LLC, adding that it’s tough to know without hard statistics if such mistakes have increased or if traders are more attuned to them after Lyft. “I would have expected corporate communications people to be especially assiduous about double-checking every number in the wake of Lyft, but I guess not all are.”

Read more: Lyft CEO Says ‘My Bad’ on Margin Error, ‘It Was One Zero’

Honest mistakes are not often considered securities fraud by regulators. But in recent years, the SEC has put increased scrutiny on the systems and procedures in place at companies that are designed to prevent errors. The agency declined to comment.

Company Corrections

Planet Fitness, the largest listed gym chain, corrected its 2024 forecast for system-wide same store sales, saying it sees growth in the 5% to 6% range instead of high single digits. The stock initially jumped premarket after its results. It closed down about 5%, after a bout of early volatility that D.A. Davidson & Co.’s Linda Bolton Weiser said was a result of the amended figures.

Planet Fitness “felt it was prudent to clarify that system-wide same store sales will be five to six percent,” McCall Gosselin, senior vice president of communications, said in an emailed statement.

Meanwhile, Mister Car Wash, which runs car washes across the US, said it sees 2024 comparable store sales growth in the range of 0.5% to 2.5%. Its initial report, published late Wednesday, showed its expectations ranged from a decline of 0.5% to 2.5% growth. The stock slumped 10%. A company representative didn’t respond to a request for comment.

And electric-vehicle maker Rivian corrected a line in its press release to say that there was a 147% increase in deliveries for the year ended Dec. 31, rather than for the fourth quarter. Rivian shares held on to losses following the fix, sinking 26%. The company said it corrected the timeframe comparison, which was accurate in its shareholder letter, to be consistent.

Loss Triggers

Of course, the declines weren’t only a result of the errors. 

Mister Car Wash reported comparable sales that missed estimates, and analysts called its 2024 forecast underwhelming. Planet Fitness also gave a less-than-rosy outlook for the year, and said its chief financial officer will retire. Rivian slid as it issued a disappointing production forecast and announced job cuts.

“We are all human and I care much more about the performance of the business rather than a slight error that they fixed pretty quickly,” said BMO Capital Markets analyst Simeon Siegel, who rates Planet Fitness outperform. 

Siegel noted that Planet Fitness corrected a revenue-related aspect of guidance without changing the rest of its projections, signaling that it was an error as opposed to an incorrect input that impacted its plans.

For some market observers, the chain of events merits attention from regulators. 

“This is something the SEC should look into to fine companies because people trade on this,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. “Just saying you have a fat thumb isn’t good enough in my mind.”

In the case of Lyft, the typo helped drive the stock up almost 70% in after-hours trading Feb. 13.

Such incidents also present a risk for individual investors who trade on news without the help of automation.

“Just because you fix it quickly it doesn’t mean a lot of people, or at least some people, didn’t lose some money,” Maley said.

--With assistance from Austin Weinstein.

(Updates shares throughout.)

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