Earnings Season

Earnings season refers to the quarterly report of companies’ results like revenue/earnings, which is released in one or two weeks after the last month of each quarter (Dec, Mar, Jun, Sep). It helps investors make decisions on behalf of reports issued by companies regarding investment and the value of their investments.

Investors and analysts who follow the earnings season calendar look for individual companies with surprising results, the overall performance of companies against the performance of the market. These seasons give investors a great overlook of the companies they have invested in or plan to invest their funds. Moreover, they also give investors an overview of their investment goals.

• Earnings season refers to the quarterly reporting period when companies release their financial results, such as revenue and earnings. 
• It helps investors make informed investment decisions based on company reports.
• Earnings season provides an opportunity for investors to analyze and invest in companies based on their financial performance. Not all companies release their reports during earnings season, but many major publicly traded companies do.
• The timing of earnings reports is often outside of regular trading hours, either before or after the market closes.

Earnings season is that time of the year when the majority of publicly listed companies disclose their quarterly earnings. These reports help investors and analysts determine the performance of companies against the overall growth or deterioration of the market.

When large public companies release their quarterly report, we call that time earnings season. Please have a look at this earnings calendar below. We have provided the company's name, its estimated date of filing its result, and the period ending. For example, Citigroup. For the period ending Q4 2017, Citigroup may release its earnings report on 18th January 2018.

To be precise, the earnings season calendar starts just one to two weeks after the last month of the quarter. So, for example, it is usually one to two weeks after March-end, i.e., one to two weeks after the first quarter ends.

That means the season begins when each quarter ends.

That also means that January, April, July, and October are the months of earnings season.

Earnings season allows investors to look into the figures of the companies they want to invest in. If the time is right, they invest, if not, they step back and wait for the right time.

And since most major publicly traded companies release their earnings reports during this period, they greatly help the investors.

However, one thing every investor needs to keep in mind – not all publicly traded companies release their reports during earnings seasons.

Moreover, the big companies release their quarterly report when the market is closed. As a result, the quarterly reports are typically released before the stock market opens (i.e., around 7:00 a.m.) or after the stock market closes (i.e., around 4:00 p.m.).

Giant companies do this for a specific reason. They want to reach as many investors as they can. If they release their reports during the time when the stock market runs its business, many investors will miss out on the reports.

Also, if they release the reports during the off-time, the investors will get enough time to reflect on the figures and respond accordingly.

Since, in the stock market, a single piece of information can change the course of a company’s future results, quarterly reports are invaluable to prove that the companies are doing better (at least in figures).

As investors, this can be an obvious question. The discussion below will help investors and analysts alike to understand the U.S. earnings season or the earnings seasons anywhere across the world.

• Earnings seasons are the best time to make some decent money. But why? Because you get a lot of tradeable information that affects the stock market. And since new information affects the most price swings in the stock market, as investors, you can make decent money by selling and buying the right stocks.
  Which earnings season is most important in a year? You may ask this. And we have a definite answer. The third earnings season is the most important, and there is no concrete explanation. But maybe because it shakes things up in the stock market. The companies are on the verge of year-end, and the investors want to make decent money. And the stock market also goes through ups and downs during this time. In addition, two significant industries, i.e., consumer discretionary and tech, have the most demands during this time.
• The case about straddles: The best way to profit from earnings seasons is to buy straddles. But what are straddles? Straddles comprise both put and call contracts. This gives a trader both options. If the price goes up, they could avail of call options at a considerable discount. If the price goes down, she will be able to use put options to make profits.
• Do your due diligence: In investments, you must study a lot. Suppose you are interested in trading stocks and are new in the business. In that case, it’s better to start with the financial statements of the company. Find out the financial ratios. Do the computation. And start investing small amounts to see whether your judgments are good enough. Talk to an expert about it before ever going big. Earnings season will help, but you need to know the secrets of the trade to take advantage of it.

Let us understand the importance of the U.S. earnings season through the discussion below.

1. Earnings surprises: As traders or investors, you expect some companies to do exceptionally well or create ridiculously appalling results. But when the earnings seasons come, and you observe the earnings of these companies, you may get a great surprise. The surprise can be a good surprise or a bad surprise, depending on what you expect or the stocks you would have invested your money into. A good or bad surprise happens when you expect great or worst results, but it turns out to be the complete opposite of your expectations.
2. Bellwethers: Some companies or industries are called bellwethers during this period. It means they are leading companies or industries. For example, in the last century, two companies came as the leading companies in the U.S. stock market- General Motors and IBM. But why is this important? Because if any one of these companies gets halted or even one does not perform as expected, the whole stock market gets affected.
3. Aggregate expectations vs. aggregate reality: This is far too common, but this is one of the most discussed concepts regarding earnings seasons. Before this period, financial analysts look at the stock market and the companies and estimate how these companies may perform in the quarter. But they are not able to hit the right target. As a result, the investors may lose a lot of money by going as per the estimates of financial analysts than the aggregate reality of the stock market.

This article is a guide to what is Earnings Season. Here, we discuss a step-by-step approach to making profits, importance and, uses. You may learn more about financing from the following articles: -

• Earnings Management Techniques
• Seasonal Unemployment Examples
• Earnings Call
• Primary vs. Secondary Market