Business & finance · also called earnings release, quarterly results
Earnings report
An earnings report is the periodic announcement, usually quarterly, in which a public company discloses its revenue, profit and other key results, often with an investor call and updated guidance.
Public companies report results regularly: in the US every quarter, and in some markets half-yearly. An earnings report usually includes a press release with headline figures, financial statements, non-GAAP reconciliations, key operating metrics and management commentary, followed by a conference call where analysts ask questions. In the US, the release is typically furnished on a Form 8-K, and the fuller quarterly filing is the Form 10-Q (or Form 10-K for the year).
For ad tech companies, readers watch revenue growth, gross spend and take rate, Revenue ex-TAC or Contribution ex-TAC, margins, customer metrics such as net revenue retention, channel mix (for example CTV and retail media share), and guidance for the next quarter.
Share prices often move more on guidance and commentary than on the past quarter. Ad tech earnings are also read for clues about the whole advertising market, macro conditions and regulatory changes such as the Google ad tech remedies case.
Think of it like this
An earnings report is like a school report card for a company, sent home every term, with a parents' evening where analysts ask the teacher tough questions.
An example
An SSP reports quarterly revenue of US$150M, up 12% year on year, adjusted EBITDA of US$45M (30% margin), and guides next quarter's revenue to US$160–165M.
Related terms
Guidance (forecast)
Guidance is a public company's own forecast of its future results, such as next quarter's revenue or full-year adjusted EBITDA, usually given as a range alongside an earnings report.
Form 10-Q
Form 10-Q is the quarterly report US public companies file with the SEC for each of the first three fiscal quarters, containing unaudited financial statements and management's discussion of results.
Form 8-K
Form 8-K is the "current report" US public companies file with the SEC to announce major events, such as acquisitions, executive changes or earnings releases, usually within four business days.
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, further adjusted by the company to exclude items such as stock-based compensation and one-time costs; it is a non-GAAP measure.
Market capitalization
Market capitalization is the total stock-market value of a public company, calculated as its share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding.