Earnings Report
A company’s scheduled quarterly disclosure of financial results.
Also called: earnings · quarterly results · earnings season
In plain language
Earnings reports are released outside regular trading hours, so the market reprices the stock at the next open rather than gradually.
The move depends on results relative to expectations, plus forward guidance — which frequently matters more than the reported quarter.
Double-digit percentage gaps are routine. This is a scheduled, known event that regularly produces the largest single-day moves in a stock’s year.
Why it matters
Holding through earnings means accepting that your stop may not protect you. A gap can open well past it, so position size, not stop distance, is your real control.
Common mistakes
- Holding a full-size position through earnings with a tight stop and assuming risk is capped.
- Not checking the earnings date before entering a swing trade.
- Assuming good results guarantee a higher price.
Keep exploring
These concepts are connected. Understanding one usually makes the next one easier.
A jump between one period’s close and the next period’s open with no trading in between.
A company’s net profit divided by its number of outstanding shares.
How much and how quickly an asset’s price moves over a given period.
The difference between the price you expected and the price you actually got.
Trading sessions before the open and after the close, with far less liquidity.