What Is a Quarterly Earnings Release?

A quarterly earnings release is a document that summarizes and highlights a company's earnings and other financial information for a three-month period. Quarterly earnings releases generally also provide a brief analysis from executives and may include financial statements or other information deemed important to shareholders. Some companies include an outlook for the rest of the year and graphics to help analysts get the information they are looking for.

Stock analysts and investors use these releases with other data and information to gauge🐎 the financial heaꦜlth of a company and its prospects for the future.

Understanding the Quarterly Earnings Release

Quarterly earnings releases provide an earnings update to shareholders in a format that somewhat simplif🌼ies and better explains the information from the Form 10-Q sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 10-🐟Q is more comprehensive in nature than the quarterly earnings report and provides additional details. The quarterly earnings release is usually published before the 10-Q.

Companies are not required to issue these reports, but most publish them as press releases to ensure their sharehold🌃ers are in🧸formed as early as possible.

Quarterly Earnings Release Topics

Quarterly earnings releases generally begin with a discussion and analysis of the company's financial condition for the period from management. These discussions tend to announce revenue and net income compared to previous periods, any important actions taken or planned, and earnings per share. Some include financial ratios and metrics used by analysts, while others may limit their releases to only reporting earnings and earnings per share.

Many companies present information uཧsing graphics and charts an𒀰d include ratios often used by analysts, but since these releases are not a requirement, they are free to present the information any way they choose.

For example, Ameren Corporation's earnings release for the second quarter of 2024 was brief and simple, while JP Morgan & Chase's format was elaborate, presenting much more information on the first page:

These periodic releases might also include the income statement, the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:balance sheet, and the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cash flow statement. These statements pr🙈ovide an organized overview of sales, expenses, net income, assets, l♓iabilities, shareholders' equity, and cash flow for the most recent quarter.

The Impact of Quarterly Earnings Releases

The announcement of quarterly earnings for a stock, particularly for widely followed 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:large capitalization stocks, can move the overall market. An individual stock's price can also fluctuate wildly on days when the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:company's quaꦆrterly earnings release is published.

For better or worse, a company's ability to beat 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earnings estimates projected by analysts or by the firm itself can be more important than its ability to grow earnings over the prior year. If it fails to meet or exceed the estimates publishe💯d in previous releases, investors may begin to lose con🐓fidence in the company.

In capital markets, it is all about market expectations since many believe expectations are already reflected in stock prices, following the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:efficient markets theory.

The Bottom Line

Quarterly earnings releases are published by public companies every three months to provide data on their latest performance. Earnings releases are important to stock analysts, investors, and others as a way of assessing a company's current financial health and its performance over time. A disappointing earnings release can have serious consequences for the company's share price and, sometimes, for the entire market.