For any business journalist—even if you don’t focus on finance—a public company’s 10-Ks (financial reports for the year) and 10-Qs (quarterly earnings reports) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
There are two main places to look for public companies’ financial reports and related information on the internet: the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website and, the investor relations section of
Public companies have many ways of making themselves look more stable and successful than might be the case. Pro-forma financial reports are one tactic that present a challenge to reporters. These reports
If you use just one document when writing about a public company, use the 10-K – the annual report that publicly traded companies file with U.S. securities regulators. But they
Our popular business beat basics series is now available all in one place in ebook form for your convenience. Go here to download the Reynolds Center’s free ebook, Business Beat
Find what’s missing In general, 10-K filings are much more consistent across companies and even industries than the more free-form 10-Q. There can be some quirks, however. For example, many
Tips and Tricks One big use for the 10-K is context: If you want to put a number in context, you can compare it to the previous year’s net income
Quite a few experts and organizations have written up quick (and not so quick) guides to using a 10-K. Each has slightly different emphasis — check out a few and
Our popular business beat basics series is now available all in one place in ebook form for your convenience. Go here to download the Reynolds Center’s free ebook, Business Beat
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