Earnings

Investing

Earnings are a company's after-tax profit — revenue minus all expenses (cost of goods, operating expenses, interest, taxes). Public companies report earnings quarterly (10-Q) and annually (10-K). Earnings drive stock prices over the long term: the value of a business is the present value of its future earnings. Investors scrutinize earnings quality — are they from operations or one-time items? — and trend — are they growing, stable, or declining? GAAP earnings follow accounting rules; non-GAAP or adjusted earnings exclude one-time charges. Both have valid uses but always compare apples to apples across periods.