Exactly, you're on the hook to profit-max for the next quarterly earnings report. If that may negatively impact subsequent quarters, not your problems, that's to be resolved when profit-maxing those quarters
No, you're not "on the hook". You're definitely motivated to increase profits - most senior leadership's compensation will be heavily equity weighted, and net profit growth tends to result in share price growth - but there's no hard rule saying they have to purse short term profits at all costs. They might be pressured to by shareholders but they're not obligated to.
Consider companies like Amazon, Tesla, who (initially, for many years) prioritised long term growth over short term profits. Look at how long they lost money for. You do need a CEO who actually has some vision.
One might argue sacrificing long term gain and stability for short term term profits are indeed a violation of fiduciary responsibility. Why it isn’t being argued I don’t know but we all know delaying gratification tends to result in higher net in the long run.
