Explainer · Earnings
What Time Do Companies Report Earnings?
What time companies report earnings is their own choice, and most pick a slot outside the regular session. The slot also tells you which open, or which evening, carries the risk for your position.
Short answer
Most US companies release quarterly results either before the market opens at 9:30 a.m. Eastern or after it closes at 4:00 p.m., so the news reaches everyone at once outside regular trading. A conference call usually follows. The company's investor relations page gives the exact date and time.
No SEC rule sets the hour. The company picks it, and most pick a slot when the regular session is shut, which gives every investor the same chance to read the numbers before the stock can trade on them in normal volume.
Why outside market hours?
Fairness, and orderly trading. A release at 11:00 a.m. would hit a live market. Whoever read fastest would trade first. Put out the same release at 7:00 a.m. or 4:05 p.m. and the reaction can build in extended-hours trading, then settle at an open that has had time to absorb it. Midday releases do happen. They’re the exception, and calendars usually mark them “during market.”
Morning or evening? That choice is the company’s too. Some report before the open (BMO), some after the close (AMC), and many keep the same slot quarter after quarter, so the prior reports on a calendar are a reasonable first guess until the company confirms. The BMO and AMC entry covers which session reacts to each.
How does the release reach the public?
In steps. First a press release, sent through a newswire and posted to the investor relations site. The company also furnishes that release to the SEC as an exhibit to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, “Results of Operations and Financial Condition,” and the 8-K appears on the SEC’s public filing system, where anyone can pull it up alongside the company’s earlier reports. Then comes the conference call, often within a few hours for an evening release and sometimes the next morning, where management walks through the quarter and takes analysts’ questions. Anyone can usually listen by webcast. Replays stay up afterward.
Guidance can arrive in any of those places. Some companies print the outlook in the release, others give it only on the call, and a few give none; earnings guidance covers how to read it.
Is the earnings release the same as the 10-Q?
They’re different documents. The release is the headline version: results, a few tables, often guidance. The 10-Q is the full quarterly report. It has complete financial statements, the notes, and management’s discussion of the quarter, which is where you find the detail behind a number the release only summarized, such as a charge that was excluded from adjusted earnings or a change in how revenue gets counted. Many companies put out the release first and file the 10-Q later, on the same day or weeks after.
SEC deadlines depend on filer size. The largest companies get the shortest windows.
| Filing | Deadline after period end |
|---|---|
| 10-Q (quarterly) | 40 days for larger filers, 45 days for others |
| 10-K (annual) | 60 to 90 days, depending on filer size |
These are ceilings. A due date that lands on a weekend or federal holiday rolls to the next business day. Most companies release earnings well inside the deadline. A company that can’t file on time generally has to tell the SEC so on a late-filing notice, Form 12b-25, and that notice tends to draw attention.
When during reporting season?
It depends on the fiscal year. Companies whose fiscal quarters match the calendar quarters bunch their reports into the weeks after March, June, September and December end. A company with a fiscal year ending in, say, January or August runs on its own schedule, so its reports can land outside the busy weeks. Check the fiscal calendar before you assume a stock reports with its peers.
Can you trade on the news before the open?
Sometimes. Many brokers offer pre-market and after-hours sessions, but the hours, the eligible order types and the rules differ by firm, and extended-hours orders often have to be limit orders. Liquidity is thin. Spreads can be wide, and a price printed at 7:15 a.m. on light volume may not be where the stock opens. If you plan to react to a release outside the regular session, read your broker’s extended-hours terms first.
Where do you confirm the exact time?
The company’s investor relations page. Look for an “events” or “news” section, where the date, the release time and the call time are usually posted ahead of the report. An earnings calendar collects the same information across many companies, but an estimated date on a calendar is only a projection. How to read an earnings calendar explains the confirmed and estimated flags.
If you swing trade around reports, the time slot decides your exposure. With an evening release, the next morning’s open carries the risk, and a stop order won’t stop a gap. More on handling that under the earnings topic.
Readers also ask
Do companies ever report earnings during market hours?
Occasionally. A few companies publish results while the regular session is open, and calendars tend to label those reports during market. The stock can then react within minutes, in full trading volume, which leaves little time to read the release before the price moves.
How long after the earnings release is the conference call?
It depends on the company. For an evening release the call often starts within an hour or two, and some morning reporters hold theirs shortly before or after the open. The release itself, or the investor relations events page, gives the call time and a webcast link.
Can a company change its earnings date?
Yes. A company can move a date it has announced, though most keep to it once confirmed. Estimated dates on calendars shift far more often, since they are projections made before the company says anything. Recheck the investor relations page in the days before a report you plan to hold through.