Earnings Calendar
Earnings reports can move a stock price, up or down, sometimes by a lot. A lot of that movement has to do with how much the estimated earnings and revenues deviated from reported earnings and revenues. So, if you're considering buying or selling a stock, it may be a good idea to find out when the company plans to announce earnings.
Accessing the Earnings Calendar
You can access the Earnings Calendar from either the Member Tools area of Your Dashboard or the Summary Pages section of the Charts & Tools page.
Using the Earnings Calendar
You can find earnings info for a specific company or see a list of all companies announcing earnings in a specific quarter. To find earnings for a specific company, enter the stock symbol in the search box on the far right.
When viewing the earnings calendar, you have two options—Reported Earnings or Upcoming Earnings.
Select Past Two Days, Past Week, Past Month, or All from the period dropdown menu. These are earnings for the most recent or current quarter. The data is arranged in a table format.
Reported Earnings View
Reported Earnings displays the stock symbol, company name, earnings date, revenue, estimated revenue, earnings, estimated earnings, earnings-per-share (EPS), estimated EPS, difference, and percentage difference (see below).
The menu on the left column of each row allows you to view each symbol as a Symbol Summary, SharpChart, ACP Chart, Gallery View, Point & Figure, Seasonality, or Options format.
On the extreme right are two icons—a plus sign and a bell. Click on the plus sign to add the symbol to your ChartList. Click on the bell icon to create an alert.
Upcoming Earnings View
The display is similar to what you see in Reported Earnings (see below). Given the company hasn't announced earnings yet, the data shows the reporting date and time and, when applicable, estimated revenues, estimated earnings, and estimated earnings per share (EPS).
How to Use Earnings Data
Quarterly earnings reports can affect a company's stock price movement, sometimes unexpectedly. If a large-cap company is reporting earnings and makes up a significant portion of an index, there's a chance the index will move in tandem with the stock price movement. For these reasons, traders and investors watch earnings reports.
As an investor, your goal is to make a positive return on your investment, If you focus on two main numbers—earnings and revenues—you're well positioned to make sense of company earnings. So, before a company announces earnings, it's a good idea to know what the analyst estimates are for revenue and earnings per share (EPS). After the company reports, compare the reported EPS and revenues with the estimates.
What happens to the stock price after earnings are reported is anyone's guess. Generally, if a company beats estimates, it's considered positive news, and, as a result, the stock price rises. But with the stock markets, nothing ever goes in the direction you expect. Sometimes, the stock price moves in a direction you wouldn't expect. Other factors come into play, such as guidance. A company may have strong earnings, but the future may look bleak, or maybe the company chose not to provide guidance. In such cases, the stock price could fall, sometimes significantly.
Because of the volatility surrounding earnings, some investors prefer to wait until after earnings before investing in a stock. With the earnings calendar, you can see when a company is expected to announce earnings. As a result, you can strategize your trading accordingly.
Last updated
