It actually indicates something a bit different. CEO's optimize for their own compensation with bonuses and similar set by quarterly goals. They optimize for meeting goals over company performance.
Externally, companies work on perception. Analysts have no way of knowing if good R&D is still going on or if sales figures are getting inflated. They operate only on externally-visible information. Hence, CEOs (who expect an average tenure of three years) optimize for externally-visible information on metrics over long-term performance.
They also optimize for graft to the board members (so they can keep their jobs), but that's a whole different story.
The exception seem to be founder-run companies. Founders have an emotional stake, a more significant long-term financial stake, and have not gone through the corrupting process of becoming a CEO. Which of those is dominant? Your guess is as good as mine.