How It Works

Public companies in the United States are required to report their financial results every three months. These reports — called quarterly earnings — typically land about two to four weeks after a quarter closes. Since most companies share the same fiscal calendar, the reports cluster together, creating four distinct "seasons" each year:

  • Q1 results (January–March): reported in April
  • Q2 results (April–June): reported in July
  • Q3 results (July–September): reported in October
  • Q4 results (October–December): reported in January–February
The season kicks off when major banks report, then builds through several weeks as thousands of companies follow. A heavyweight like Microsoft (MSFT) typically reports in late July for its fiscal Q4. In its fiscal year 2024 Q4 report, for example, Microsoft posted revenue of roughly $64 billion — a figure that moved its share price noticeably in after-hours trading the same evening.

How to Read It

The headline number — earnings per share (EPS), calculated as net profit divided by total shares outstanding — grabs the most attention. But the market often reacts more to whether a company beat or missed analyst expectations than to the raw number itself. A company can report record profits and still see its stock fall if those profits came in below what analysts had forecast.

Beyond EPS, experienced market watchers focus on:

  • Revenue growth: Is the top line expanding?
  • Guidance: What does management say about the next quarter or full year? Forward-looking statements often move prices more than past results.
  • Margins: Is the company becoming more or less profitable per dollar of revenue?
  • Segment breakdowns: For a company like Microsoft, the split between cloud (Azure), productivity software, and gaming tells a richer story than any single number.
Sector context matters too. Tech companies are typically judged on growth rates and future guidance, while utilities or consumer staples companies face more scrutiny on dividend sustainability and cost control.

Where to Find It on Quantify

Quantify tracks key earnings data — including EPS, revenue figures, and year-over-year comparisons — directly on each stock's page. You can see Microsoft's latest reported results, historical quarterly trends, and how actual figures compared to analyst estimates on the MSFT stock page on Quantify. Checking this page around earnings season gives a quick, structured view of what the company actually delivered versus what the market expected.

Common Mistakes

Focusing only on whether earnings "beat" expectations. A beat is only meaningful in context — a company that repeatedly lowers its own guidance to make beating easier is playing a different game than one that consistently outperforms genuine forecasts.

Ignoring guidance in favour of past results. Markets are forward-looking by nature. A strong past quarter paired with weak guidance for the next period often matters more to price movement than the headline beat. The number that already happened is history; what management says comes next is what traders and analysts are really listening for.