QQQ   432.79 (+0.19%)
AAPL   188.32 (-0.58%)
MSFT   414.11 (+0.01%)
META   470.00 (+0.09%)
GOOGL   145.91 (+0.25%)
AMZN   169.84 (-0.40%)
TSLA   189.56 (+1.06%)
NVDA   696.41 (-0.65%)
NIO   5.82 (-0.68%)
AMD   169.35 (-0.93%)
BABA   70.74 (-3.94%)
T   16.82 (-2.94%)
F   12.83 (+0.23%)
MU   84.88 (-0.34%)
CGC   4.11 (-4.86%)
GE   139.07 (+0.41%)
DIS   110.54 (+11.50%)
AMC   4.09 (+3.81%)
PFE   27.56 (+0.00%)
PYPL   56.13 (-11.24%)
XOM   103.97 (+1.71%)
QQQ   432.79 (+0.19%)
AAPL   188.32 (-0.58%)
MSFT   414.11 (+0.01%)
META   470.00 (+0.09%)
GOOGL   145.91 (+0.25%)
AMZN   169.84 (-0.40%)
TSLA   189.56 (+1.06%)
NVDA   696.41 (-0.65%)
NIO   5.82 (-0.68%)
AMD   169.35 (-0.93%)
BABA   70.74 (-3.94%)
T   16.82 (-2.94%)
F   12.83 (+0.23%)
MU   84.88 (-0.34%)
CGC   4.11 (-4.86%)
GE   139.07 (+0.41%)
DIS   110.54 (+11.50%)
AMC   4.09 (+3.81%)
PFE   27.56 (+0.00%)
PYPL   56.13 (-11.24%)
XOM   103.97 (+1.71%)
QQQ   432.79 (+0.19%)
AAPL   188.32 (-0.58%)
MSFT   414.11 (+0.01%)
META   470.00 (+0.09%)
GOOGL   145.91 (+0.25%)
AMZN   169.84 (-0.40%)
TSLA   189.56 (+1.06%)
NVDA   696.41 (-0.65%)
NIO   5.82 (-0.68%)
AMD   169.35 (-0.93%)
BABA   70.74 (-3.94%)
T   16.82 (-2.94%)
F   12.83 (+0.23%)
MU   84.88 (-0.34%)
CGC   4.11 (-4.86%)
GE   139.07 (+0.41%)
DIS   110.54 (+11.50%)
AMC   4.09 (+3.81%)
PFE   27.56 (+0.00%)
PYPL   56.13 (-11.24%)
XOM   103.97 (+1.71%)
QQQ   432.79 (+0.19%)
AAPL   188.32 (-0.58%)
MSFT   414.11 (+0.01%)
META   470.00 (+0.09%)
GOOGL   145.91 (+0.25%)
AMZN   169.84 (-0.40%)
TSLA   189.56 (+1.06%)
NVDA   696.41 (-0.65%)
NIO   5.82 (-0.68%)
AMD   169.35 (-0.93%)
BABA   70.74 (-3.94%)
T   16.82 (-2.94%)
F   12.83 (+0.23%)
MU   84.88 (-0.34%)
CGC   4.11 (-4.86%)
GE   139.07 (+0.41%)
DIS   110.54 (+11.50%)
AMC   4.09 (+3.81%)
PFE   27.56 (+0.00%)
PYPL   56.13 (-11.24%)
XOM   103.97 (+1.71%)

Today's Earnings Calendar

Earnings announcements are a public statement of a company's profitability for a specific period of time, such as a quarter (90 days) or a year. Equities research analysts will issue estimates of the company's earnings numbers prior to its announcement date, which is generally set weeks or months in advance. If a company releases better results than analysts predict, its share price will generally rise after the announcement. Below you will find a list of public companies announcing their earnings results today. Learn more about earnings reports.

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Analyst consensus is the average investment recommendation among Wall Street research analysts.
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Analyst ConsensusUpgrade to All Access to use the All Ratings Filter
CompanyRelease TimeConsensus EstimateActual EPSRevenue EstimateActual RevenueActions
Advanced Drainage Systems stock logo
WMS
Advanced Drainage Systems
Morning$0.93$1.02$632.69 million$662.37 million    
Affirm stock logo
AFRM
Affirm
Afternoon$0.08($0.73)$520.85 million$591.11 million    
Alliance Entertainment stock logo
AENT
Alliance Entertainment
AfternoonN/AN/AN/AN/A  
Alpine Income Property Trust stock logo
PINE
Alpine Income Property Trust
Afternoon$0.37($0.02)N/AN/A  
AMMO stock logo
POWW
AMMO
Afternoon$0.02($0.01)N/AN/A  
Anebulo Pharmaceuticals stock logo
ANEB
Anebulo Pharmaceuticals
Q2 2024 Earnings ReleaseN/A($0.10)N/AN/A
Annaly Capital Management stock logo
NLY
Annaly Capital Management
Afternoon$0.64$0.65$296.00 million$990.35 million  
Apartment Income REIT stock logo
AIRC
Apartment Income REIT
Afternoon$0.64$0.08N/AN/A  
Apollo Global Management stock logo
APO
Apollo Global Management
Morning$1.61$1.72N/AN/A  
AptarGroup stock logo
ATR
AptarGroup
Afternoon$1.12$1.21$842.50 million$838.48 million  
ArcelorMittal stock logo
MT
ArcelorMittal
Morning($0.81)($3.57)$16.39 billion$14.55 billion  
Ares Management stock logo
ARES
Ares Management
Morning$1.13$1.10$918.10 millionN/A  
Arrow Electronics stock logo
ARW
Arrow Electronics
Morning$3.72$3.98$7.84 billion$7.85 billion  
Asbury Automotive Group stock logo
ABG
Asbury Automotive Group
Morning$7.69$7.67$3.70 billion$3.81 billion  
AstraZeneca stock logo
AZN
AstraZeneca
Morning$0.74$0.73$12.07 billion$12.02 billion  
Aurora Cannabis stock logo
ACB
Aurora Cannabis
Morning($0.01)($0.02)N/AN/A  
Axalta Coating Systems stock logo
AXTA
Axalta Coating Systems
Morning$0.44$0.44$1.29 billion$1.30 billion  
Baxter International stock logo
BAX
Baxter International
Morning$0.86$0.86$3.81 billion$3.89 billion  
BCE stock logo
BCE
BCE
Morning$0.54$0.54$4.82 billion$6.47 billion  
Belden stock logo
BDC
Belden
Morning$1.12$1.13$522.06 million$551.24 million  
BILL stock logo
BILL
BILL
Afternoon$0.41$0.40$298.78 million$318.50 million  
Bioceres Crop Solutions stock logo
BIOX
Bioceres Crop Solutions
Afternoon$0.07$0.09N/AN/A  
Black Hills stock logo
BKH
Black Hills
Afternoon$1.06$1.17$863.67 million$591.70 million  
BorgWarner stock logo
BWA
BorgWarner
Morning$0.88$0.90$3.62 billion$3.52 billion    
Boyd Gaming stock logo
BYD
Boyd Gaming
Afternoon$1.44$1.47$928.04 million$954.41 million  
Brookfield stock logo
BN
Brookfield
Morning$0.69$0.71$1.15 billion$24.52 billion  
Cameco stock logo
CCJ
Cameco
Morning$0.21$0.21$601.71 million$844.00 million  
Cantaloupe stock logo
CTLP
Cantaloupe
Afternoon$0.02$0.03N/AN/A  
Capri stock logo
CPRI
Capri
Afternoon$1.85$1.71$1.48 billion$1.43 billion
CareTrust REIT stock logo
CTRE
CareTrust REIT
Afternoon$0.36$0.24N/AN/A  
CEMEX stock logo
CX
CEMEX
MorningN/AN/AN/AN/A  
Civista Bancshares stock logo
CIVB
Civista Bancshares
Morning$0.56$0.57N/AN/A  
CleanSpark stock logo
CLSK
CleanSpark
Afternoon($0.28)$0.14$71.03 million$73.79 million  
Cloudflare stock logo
NET
Cloudflare
Afternoon$0.12$0.15$353.11 million$362.50 million  
Colliers International Group stock logo
CIGI
Colliers International Group
Morning$1.86$2.00$1.22 billion$1.24 billion  
ConocoPhillips stock logo
COP
ConocoPhillips
Morning$2.70$2.09$15.15 billionN/A  
COPT Defense Properties stock logo
CDP
COPT Defense Properties
Afternoon$0.61$0.31$159.09 million$179.30 million  
Credicorp stock logo
BAP
Credicorp
Afternoon$2.61$2.74N/AN/A  
Curis stock logo
CRIS
Curis
Morning($1.91)($2.03)N/AN/A  
CyberArk Software stock logo
CYBR
CyberArk Software
Morning$0.47$0.81$209.74 million$223.10 million  
DexCom stock logo
DXCM
DexCom
Afternoon$0.43$0.50$1.02 billion$1.03 billion    
Doximity stock logo
DOCS
Doximity
Afternoon$0.24$0.29$127.50 million$135.90 million    
DTE Energy stock logo
DTE
DTE Energy
Morning$1.96$1.96$4.57 billionN/A    
Duke Energy stock logo
DUK
Duke Energy
Morning$1.55$1.51$7.24 billion$7.21 billion  
Dynatrace stock logo
DT
Dynatrace
Morning$0.28$0.32$357.61 million$365.00 million    
Edesa Biotech stock logo
EDSA
Edesa Biotech
Q1 2024 Earnings ReleaseN/A($1.21)N/AN/A
eGain stock logo
EGAN
eGain
Afternoon$0.08$0.08N/AN/A  
EMCORE stock logo
EMKR
EMCORE
Afternoon($0.02)N/AN/AN/A  
ESCO Technologies stock logo
ESE
ESCO Technologies
Afternoon$0.65$0.62$221.44 million$218.30 million  
Expedia Group stock logo
EXPE
Expedia Group
Afternoon$1.67$1.72$2.87 billion$2.89 billion  
Farmer Bros. stock logo
FARM
Farmer Bros.
Afternoon($0.21)($0.21)N/AN/A    
First American Financial stock logo
FAF
First American Financial
Morning$0.75$0.69$1.47 billion$1.43 billion  
FirstEnergy stock logo
FE
FirstEnergy
Afternoon$0.60$0.59$3.10 billion$3.20 billion  
Flowers Foods stock logo
FLO
Flowers Foods
Afternoon$0.20$0.21$1.13 billion$1.13 billion  
Flux Power stock logo
FLUX
Flux Power
Afternoon($0.09)N/AN/AN/A  
Forrester Research stock logo
FORR
Forrester Research
Afternoon$0.26N/AN/AN/A  
Gates Industrial stock logo
GTES
Gates Industrial
Morning$0.27$0.39$862.59 million$863.30 million    
Genpact stock logo
G
Genpact
Afternoon$0.65$0.82$1.12 billion$1.07 billion  
Haemonetics stock logo
HAE
Haemonetics
Morning$0.94$1.04$320.84 million$336.20 million    
Harley-Davidson stock logo
HOG
Harley-Davidson
Morning$0.04$0.18$875.29 million$791.65 million  
Healthpeak Properties stock logo
PEAK
Healthpeak Properties
Afternoon$0.45$0.46$553.77 million$553.65 million  
Honda Motor stock logo
HMC
Honda Motor
N/A$1.04$1.06N/AN/A  
i3 Verticals stock logo
IIIV
i3 Verticals
Afternoon$0.38$0.36N/AN/A  
IBEX stock logo
IBEX
IBEX
Afternoon$0.47N/AN/AN/A    
Illumina stock logo
ILMN
Illumina
Afternoon$0.01$0.14$1.09 billion$1.12 billion  
Impinj stock logo
PI
Impinj
Afternoon($0.02)$0.09$68.31 million$70.65 million  
Insperity stock logo
NSP
Insperity
Morning$0.61$0.75$1.55 billion$1.58 billion  
Intercontinental Exchange stock logo
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange
Morning$1.29$1.33$2.20 billion$2.20 billion    
IRadimed stock logo
IRMD
IRadimed
MorningN/AN/AN/AN/A  
Iteris stock logo
ITI
Iteris
Afternoon$0.01N/AN/AN/A    
ITT stock logo
ITT
ITT
Morning$1.34$1.34$814.38 million$829.10 million  
Jerash Holdings (US) stock logo
JRSH
Jerash Holdings (US)
MorningN/AN/AN/AN/A  
Kellanova stock logo
K
Kellanova
Morning$0.74$0.78$3.07 billion$3.17 billion  
Kenvue stock logo
KVUE
Kenvue
Morning$0.28$0.31$3.78 billion$3.67 billion  
Kimco Realty stock logo
KIM
Kimco Realty
Morning$0.39$0.39$447.01 million$451.60 million  
Ladder Capital stock logo
LADR
Ladder Capital
Morning$0.27$0.29$76.16 millionN/A  
Lantronix stock logo
LTRX
Lantronix
Afternoon$0.08N/AN/AN/A  
Leggett & Platt stock logo
LEG
Leggett & Platt
Afternoon$0.27$0.26$1.11 billion$1.12 billion  
LightPath Technologies stock logo
LPTH
LightPath Technologies
Afternoon($0.03)N/AN/AN/A  
Lightspeed Commerce stock logo
LSPD
Lightspeed Commerce
Morning$0.02$0.08$236.68 million$239.70 million
Lincoln National stock logo
LNC
Lincoln National
Morning$1.41$0.76$4.39 billionN/A  
Liquidity Services stock logo
LQDT
Liquidity Services
MorningN/AN/AN/AN/A  
Live Ventures stock logo
LIVE
Live Ventures
Morning$1.44N/AN/AN/A  
LiveOne stock logo
LVO
LiveOne
Morning($0.03)N/AN/AN/A  
LiveRamp stock logo
RAMP
LiveRamp
Afternoon$0.41$0.47$171.46 million$174.00 million    
LiveWire Group stock logo
LVWR
LiveWire Group
MorningN/AN/AN/AN/A  
Lumentum stock logo
LITE
Lumentum
Morning$0.31$0.32$363.34 million$366.80 million  
Masco stock logo
MAS
Masco
Morning$0.66$0.83$1.79 billion$1.88 billion    
MDU Resources Group stock logo
MDU
MDU Resources Group
Morning$0.49$1.50$1.23 billion$1.14 billion  
Mettler-Toledo International stock logo
MTD
Mettler-Toledo International
Afternoon$10.56$10.10$959.45 million$934.90 million  
Mid-America Apartment Communities stock logo
MAA
Mid-America Apartment Communities
Afternoon$2.30$1.37$542.64 million$542.25 million  
Mohawk Industries stock logo
MHK
Mohawk Industries
Afternoon$1.86$1.96$2.56 billion$2.61 billion  
Motorola Solutions stock logo
MSI
Motorola Solutions
Afternoon$3.63$3.90$2.82 billion$2.85 billion  
Mueller Water Products stock logo
MWA
Mueller Water Products
Afternoon$0.09$0.08$250.64 million$256.40 million  
National Fuel Gas stock logo
NFG
National Fuel Gas
Afternoon$1.32$1.46$664.57 million$525.36 million    
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage stock logo
NGVC
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage
AfternoonN/A$0.19N/AN/A  
NGL Energy Partners stock logo
NGL
NGL Energy Partners
Afternoon$0.03N/AN/AN/A    
NNN REIT stock logo
NNN
NNN REIT
Morning$0.81$0.82$206.34 million$216.23 million  
Omnicell stock logo
OMCL
Omnicell
Morning$0.17$0.33$255.52 million$258.85 million  
Onto Innovation stock logo
ONTO
Onto Innovation
Afternoon$0.99$1.06$209.06 million$219.00 million  
O'Reilly Automotive stock logo
ORLY
O'Reilly Automotive
Afternoon$9.07$9.26$3.86 billion$3.83 billion  
Patrick Industries stock logo
PATK
Patrick Industries
Morning$1.39$1.49$780.97 million$781.20 million  
Paylocity stock logo
PCTY
Paylocity
Afternoon$1.21$1.49$324.58 million$326.40 million  
Peabody Energy stock logo
BTU
Peabody Energy
Morning$1.41$1.33$1.22 billion$1.24 billion  
Perella Weinberg Partners stock logo
PWP
Perella Weinberg Partners
MorningN/AN/AN/AN/A  
PetMed Express stock logo
PETS
PetMed Express
Afternoon$0.01N/AN/AN/A  
Phibro Animal Health stock logo
PAHC
Phibro Animal Health
Afternoon$0.27$0.28$242.91 million$249.90 million  
Philip Morris International stock logo
PM
Philip Morris International
Morning$1.44$1.36$8.99 billion$9.05 billion    
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. stock logo
PECO
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.
Afternoon$0.57$0.10$152.01 million$154.45 million  
Pinterest stock logo
PINS
Pinterest
Afternoon$0.51$0.53$991.31 million$981.26 million    
Pixelworks stock logo
PXLW
Pixelworks
Afternoon($0.05)N/AN/AN/A  
PODC
PodcastOne
MorningN/AN/AN/AN/A  
Power Integrations stock logo
POWI
Power Integrations
Afternoon$0.15$0.22$90.23 million$89.50 million  
Prestige Consumer Healthcare stock logo
PBH
Prestige Consumer Healthcare
Morning$1.04$1.06$280.25 million$282.74 million    
PROS stock logo
PRO
PROS
Afternoon$0.06$0.02$76.70 million$77.48 million  
Prospect Capital stock logo
PSEC
Prospect Capital
Afternoon$0.22N/AN/AN/A  
Ralph Lauren stock logo
RL
Ralph Lauren
Morning$3.47$4.17$1.87 billion$1.93 billion  
RBC Bearings stock logo
RBC
RBC Bearings
Morning$1.83$1.96$376.83 million$373.90 million  
RCI Hospitality stock logo
RICK
RCI Hospitality
Afternoon$1.00$0.87$73.30 million$73.90 million  
Regency Centers stock logo
REG
Regency Centers
Afternoon$1.02$0.50$335.80 millionN/A  
Replimune Group stock logo
REPL
Replimune Group
Morning($0.89)($0.77)N/AN/A  
Research Solutions stock logo
RSSS
Research Solutions
Afternoon($0.03)N/AN/AN/A  
RXO stock logo
RXO
RXO
Morning$0.03$0.06$996.33 million$978.00 million  
S&P Global stock logo
SPGI
S&P Global
Morning$3.15$3.13$3.13 billion$3.15 billion  
Sangoma Technologies stock logo
SANG
Sangoma Technologies
Afternoon($0.09)N/AN/AN/A
Sensus Healthcare stock logo
SRTS
Sensus Healthcare
Afternoon$0.12N/AN/AN/A  
Shinhan Financial Group stock logo
SHG
Shinhan Financial Group
N/A$0.86$0.94N/AN/A  
Snap-on stock logo
SNA
Snap-on
Morning$4.66$4.75$1.20 billion$1.20 billion  
SolarWinds stock logo
SWI
SolarWinds
Morning$0.21$0.21$190.43 million$198.14 million  
Spectrum Brands stock logo
SPB
Spectrum Brands
Morning$0.28$0.43$674.20 million$692.20 million  
Spirit Airlines stock logo
SAVE
Spirit Airlines
Afternoon($1.52)($1.46)$1.32 billion$1.32 billion  
SPS Commerce stock logo
SPSC
SPS Commerce
Afternoon$0.69$0.75$143.14 million$144.97 million  
StepStone Group stock logo
STEP
StepStone Group
Afternoon$0.25$0.27$151.64 millionN/A    
Strattec Security stock logo
STRT
Strattec Security
Afternoon($0.46)($0.46)N/AN/A
Suburban Propane Partners stock logo
SPH
Suburban Propane Partners
MorningN/AN/AN/AN/A  
Synaptics stock logo
SYNA
Synaptics
Afternoon$0.46$0.57$235.26 million$237.00 million  
T. Rowe Price Group stock logo
TROW
T. Rowe Price Group
Morning$1.53$1.72$1.63 billion$1.64 billion  
Take-Two Interactive Software stock logo
TTWO
Take-Two Interactive Software
Afternoon$0.72($0.54)$1.34 billion$1.34 billion  
Tapestry stock logo
TPR
Tapestry
Morning$1.46$1.63$2.05 billion$2.08 billion  
Tempur Sealy International stock logo
TPX
Tempur Sealy International
Morning$0.54$0.53$1.18 billion$1.17 billion  
Tenet Healthcare stock logo
THC
Tenet Healthcare
Morning$1.54$1.60$5.28 billion$5.38 billion  
Terex stock logo
TEX
Terex
Afternoon$1.40$1.39$1.23 billion$1.22 billion  
TFI International stock logo
TFII
TFI International
Afternoon$1.67$1.67$1.95 billion$1.97 billion
Allstate stock logo
ALL
Allstate
Afternoon$3.87$5.82$12.69 billion$14.83 billion  
Hershey stock logo
HSY
Hershey
Morning$1.95$1.95$2.72 billion$2.66 billion  
Interpublic Group of Companies stock logo
IPG
Interpublic Group of Companies
Morning$1.16$1.18$2.57 billion$2.59 billion  
Thomson Reuters stock logo
TRI
Thomson Reuters
Morning$0.92$0.98$1.82 billion$1.82 billion  
TransDigm Group stock logo
TDG
TransDigm Group
Morning$6.41$7.16$1.68 billion$1.79 billion  
U-Haul stock logo
UHAL
U-Haul
Afternoon$0.82$0.86$1.34 billion$1.34 billion  
Under Armour stock logo
UAA
Under Armour
Morning$0.11$0.11$1.50 billion$1.49 billion    
Under Armour stock logo
UA
Under Armour
Morning$0.10$0.19N/AN/A  
Unilever stock logo
UL
Unilever
N/A$1.35$1.35N/AN/A    
VeriSign stock logo
VRSN
VeriSign
Afternoon$1.83$2.60$377.93 million$380.40 million  
Veru stock logo
VERU
Veru
Morning($0.14)N/AN/AN/A  
Viad stock logo
VVI
Viad
Afternoon($0.70)($0.76)N/AN/A  
Victory Capital stock logo
VCTR
Victory Capital
Afternoon$1.12$1.13$204.20 million$205.80 million  
WEX stock logo
WEX
WEX
Morning$3.29$3.82$650.62 million$663.30 million  
Zimmer Biomet stock logo
ZBH
Zimmer Biomet
Morning$2.15$2.15$1.93 billion$1.94 billion  
What are stock market earnings reports?

We’ve become a society that is obsessed with numbers and analytics. It’s interesting, however, that investors will spend a great deal of time poring over statistics choosing a tight end for their fantasy football team, but a scant few minutes looking at a company's earnings report.

One reason for that is that an earnings report is an intimidating document, and unless you are a financial professional, it’s probably going to be a little boring. That is unless you know what to look for. Because as an analytics society, an earnings report is about as pure as it gets. An earnings report contains valuable information that can go a long way to helping an investor decide whether or not they should invest, or continue to invest, in a company. And what should be most important to investors is that the data in an earnings report is required by SEC regulations to be accurate.

But it’s still a document with a lot of numbers and legal-ese that requires translation, and that’s why we’ve created this article. We’ll go over what an earnings report is and how investors can mine the gold and get the information they want. We’ll also go over why earnings reports are important, why you can rely on them for accurate data, and the quantitative metrics that can help your fundamental analysis.

Earnings reports are part of the legal requirements that publicly held companies follow when disclosing their company’s performance. These reports are issued quarterly during what investors call the “earnings season”.

Earnings reports are a subset of a company’s 10-Q filing and contain items such as net income, earnings per share(EPS), earnings from continuing operations, and net revenue/sales. You will usually hear things about how the company performed relative to the analyst's expectations for top-line and bottom-line numbers. These numbers can be found directly in the earnings report.

The top line refers to a company's net revenue/sales. The bottom line refers to their net income. These are two metrics that are used in the fundamental analysis of a company's stock. Ideally, companies will be showing growth in both their top and bottom-line numbers, but sometimes they will be showing top-line growth that is not reflected in their bottom line or vice versa. Sometimes this is explained by market conditions and sometimes it is indicative of a bigger problem affecting the company.

It is also important to understand that an earnings report is not the same as a company’s 10-Q document. Form 10-Q is a “just the facts” document that is required by the SEC and contains detailed financial information that the company must provide. Because the 10-Q is also a public document, companies will only provide abbreviated information from the 10-Q in their earnings report.

While earnings reports do not have to be identical, they do follow a general structure. The first part of the report contains the company’s financial information in a condensed format. As mentioned above, this won't give investors all the information that's found in the 10-Q document but will provide them with enough information to get a sense of the company's performance. After displaying the raw data, there will typically be a section where the company provides a commentary on the data. Some questions that you may want to consider are as follows:

  • Was the company’s performance better, worse, or the same as the previous quarter?
  • How did the company’s performance in this quarter compare with its performance in the same quarter the prior year? This is a particularly good question for “seasonal” stocks like retailers who rely on the fourth quarter for much of their revenue.
  • Compare the cost of sales between quarters. Is it costing the company more to bring in revenue?
  • What is the company's cash flow? If the company has a negative cash flow but is still showing a positive net income you should be looking for an explanation as to why this is happening, particularly if it is a mature company.

The second component of an earnings report (sometimes called “other information”) goes through some of the potential issues that a company may be facing. This can be hard to read because it has undoubtedly been vetted by a company’s legal team so the wording is very precise. The important thing to consider when looking at this information is the risks facing the company, either from lawsuits or general market conditions. Are the risks specific to this company or are other companies within the sector experiencing the same issues. If so, is this company in a better, or worse, position to manage that risk?

Simply put, earnings reports move the market. During “earnings season” analysts and institutional investors rely on the information contained in the earnings report to make projections for the following quarter or year. Analysts form their own estimates independent of a company’s estimates and a change in analysts' sentiment can have a profound impact on stock prices.

When the earnings reports are released, analysts are looking to see not just whether a company beat its own estimates, but whether it beat analysts’ expectations as well. Most companies take an under-promise and overdeliver approach to future earnings but not all.

In some cases, a company may try to project much better forward earnings than what analysts feel is warranted. In this case, you may see a situation where a company misses on its estimates but still come in higher than what analysts expected.

While this may seem like an imperfect way to determine the direction of a stock’s price movement, the ability of a company to meet analysts’ expectations is a key driver of stock prices both positively and negatively.

No company will lie in their earnings reports (well, very few anyway). That’s because the information in the earnings report must match the company’s Form 10-Q which is a legal document that a company must file with the Securities & Exchange Commission. So every number in the earnings report must match what’s in the 10-Q. The earnings report, however, does give companies the opportunity to comment on the numbers. In the case of numbers that were below what the company forecasted, they will offer an explanation for the miss they hope will mitigate the shortcoming.

When you purchase shares of a company’s stock, you are buying a piece of that company. Fundamental analysisconsiders both quantitative and qualitative factors in determining whether or not a company belongs in your portfolio. An earnings report will not typically deliver on the qualitative factors, but, because it is so data-intensive it can go a long way to helping you understand important quantitative metrics including:

  1. Earnings – This is the company’s bottom line. How much did they earn after taxes and dividend payments? You’ll also want to look at their “earnings per share” number. This is the earnings number divided by the average number of outstanding shares.
  2. Price-earnings (P/E) ratio – This is the price of one share divided by the earnings per share. The P/E ratio tells you how much money investors are willing to pay for each dollar of a company’s earnings. By itself, the P/E may not mean that much, but you can compare the company’s P/E ratio to competitors in their industry to see if their shares are trading at a premium or a discount.
  3. Dividend yields (if applicable) – Many large companies offer dividends as a means of increasing shareholder value. The dividend yield is the company’s dividend expressed as a percentage of the share price. Therefore, a stock that sells for $50 and pays $3 a year in dividends has a yield of 6%. Ideally, you are looking for a company that combines dividends growth with earnings growth.
  4. Book value – This measures the difference between a company’s assets and its liabilities. As an investor, you may be particularly interested in the book value per share. This is arrived at by dividing the company’s book value by its number of outstanding shares. A positive sign is a stock that is selling at a price no higher than 1.3 times book value per share.
  5. Return on equity – this is usually reported directly in the earnings report. What this tells you is what a company’s net profit is after taxes divided by its book value. A return on equity of 15% or higher usually indicates a well-managed company.
  6. Debt-equity ratio – Simply put, how much debt a company has on its books compared to the equity they are generating from shareholders. This is a metric that should be taken with a grain (or two) of salt because some startup companies need to take on debt in their initial stages to achieve growth, particularly if they are not ready for an initial public offering (IPO). If a company has $1 billion in equity and $250 million in debt, its debt-equity ratio is .25 or 25 percent.
  7. Beta – This measures a stock’s volatility relative to the S&P 500 (NYSEARCA: SPY) stock index which has a beta of 1.0. A beta above 1.0 means that it rises or falls by a percentage more than the index. A beta below 1.0 means that it rises or falls at a percentage that is lower than the index.

As we’ve become more sophisticated consumers, we are less impressed by marketing “spin” and instead look to data for answers to questions.  If it can be measured, we try to measure it. The downside is that, in many cases, data has become its own marketing tool and there are so many numbers, that we get inundated with data without a clear understanding of what the data is really telling us..

That's why an earnings report is so valuable for investors. While the information contained in them may not be bedtime reading, an investor can rely on an earnings report for accurate, no-frills information that can help them make wise investment choices.

A basic truth about earnings reports is that they move markets. Analysts have expectations and when those expectations are met, the stock generally rises. However, when they're not met, the stock generally falls. As an individual investor, it's your responsibility to decide whether the price movement is justified.

The earnings report is usually a precursor to a company's conference call (or earnings call). Both in the earnings report and the conference call, a company's upper management will highlight quarterly successes and/or provide reassurance for areas where the company may have underperformed.

Finally, while the earnings report is one of the major pieces of data you can review; it is just one piece of data. The market does not always behave in logical ways and oftentimes, bad things happen to otherwise good companies. Whether you are already a shareholder or considering investing in a company, you are looking to become a part-owner of that company and the earnings report is your prospectus.

 

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