The quiet period is a set period of time when the company’s management and the marketing department cannot exchange opinions or additional information about the company.
The purpose of the quiet period is to maintain objectivity and avoid the appearance of a company providing insider information for the choice of investors.
In an IPO, the quiet period lasts from the moment the company files registration documents with US regulators until 40 days after the start of trading in shares.
For public companies, the quiet period refers to the four weeks prior to the end of the business quarter.
The JOBS Act created a class of companies - new growth companies - by waiving certain quiet periods, in particular the 25-day quiet period for research.