A season of opportunity

Earnings season is the time when publicly traded companies are required to report their quarterly earnings, including net income, sales numbers, earnings per share, and more.

Analysts regard these figures as powerful indicators of each company’s overall economic health.

Earnings per share (or EPS) is considered especially noteworthy, representing a company’s earnings in relation to its market cap.

Companies will also usually provide additional relevant data. For example, Netflix often reports new subscriber numbers and the budget it has allocated for new content creation, while Apple shares figures such as the number of iPhones sold over the past quarter.

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How earnings reports affect stock trading

A company’s market value may fluctuate considerably around the time that the earnings report is expected to be published.

Stock prices may rise or fall according to analysts’ speculative estimates, released prior to the actual earnings announcement.

The earnings season can be a time of great opportunity, since better-than-expected figures could cause a company’s stock to greatly increase in value.

Lower-than-expected results could have the opposite effect. You can checkout upcoming earnings releases in our Earnings Reports Calendar.

Here are some of this year’s big gainers

Earnings reports could be used as part of a long-term stock investment strategy, helping investors follow each company’s financial performance.

Over the past 12 months, many companies reached new heights and have shown impressive gains:

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