Earnings Report
A company's official quarterly disclosure of revenue, earnings, margins, and guidance. The biggest recurring event in single-stock trading.
An earnings report is the quarterly financial statement a public company must file with the SEC (10-Q for quarters 1–3, 10-K annually). It includes income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, and management commentary.
The market reaction is driven not by the raw numbers but by the delta versus expectations: consensus EPS and revenue estimates compiled from analyst forecasts. A beat can gap a stock up 10%; a miss can gap it down 20% — even if earnings were still positive.
Earnings reports are accompanied by a conference call where management discusses results and takes analyst questions. Forward guidance given on that call often matters more than the backward-looking reported numbers.
On the desk
A swing long into a print without a written event rule is improvisation. The playbook should say flatten, hedge, or size for the gap.