Brace Yourself: Earnings Season Is Coming

Earnings season is a term used to describe the several periods each year when the majority of publicly-traded companies are all reporting earnings for their most recent financial quarter.

Although some companies’ fiscal quarters do not coincide perfectly with the calendar year, earnings season still occurs typically two weeks or so following the end of March, June, September and December.

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For the most part, investors watch earnings season in anticipation of the release of two figures: sales, and earnings per share, sometimes referred to as the top line and bottom line, noting whether these numbers came in above or below street expectations (also called “consensus estimates”).

Also of note is whether these figures have increased or decreased from the year prior (“year-over year” or sometimes just “YoY”) or from the preceding fiscal quarter (called “sequential growth”).

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