Upcoming Earnings Reports in 2024

Earnings reports are some of the most important sources of information available to stock investors. They give important details about the current state of a business, reveal important financial information, and may include forward earnings and revenue projections, as well as commentary by the CEO or other company leaders.

If you're invested in a particular stock, reading its quarterly and year-end earnings reports is one of the smartest things you can do to ensure your investment is still a good one. If you aren't invested in a company, reading through its recent earnings reports can help you analyze profitability, growth, financial conditions, and other important information to make educated decisions about whether a company would be a good fit for your portfolio.

What are they?

Understanding earnings reports

Earnings reports are (usually) quarterly releases that provide important details on a company's business operations and updated financial statements. Publicly traded companies in the United States are generally required to issue earnings reports once per quarter to disclose and discuss their quarterly and full-year business results to the investing community.

Earnings reports must be issued in a timely manner after the end of the period being reported. Most (but not all) companies release their earnings reports within three to seven weeks after the end of the fiscal quarter. This period that occurs after each calendar quarter is often referred to as earnings season.

However, it's important to know that some companies have fiscal years that don't match up with calendar quarters. For example, it's not uncommon to see a company with a fiscal year ending Jan. 31.

In a company's earnings report, you can find information on its revenue (also known as top line) and earnings (bottom line) and how specific parts of the company performed. For example, in Amazon's (AMZN 0.78%) quarterly earnings report, you can learn how the company's e-commerce and Amazon Web Services (AWS) businesses performed.

Most companies provide commentary from senior leadership on the results and valuable context about future growth initiatives. These typically come both in the form of comments in the written earnings report and in an earnings conference call, which usually occurs within a day or so after the earnings report is released. Many provide forward projections, or guidance, which tell investors how management foresees the business performing in the coming quarter or for the full year.

Finally, you'll get an updated version of the three key financial statements companies are required to issue: the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. All three can provide valuable information for investors to use in their analysis of how a business is performing.

Upcoming reports

Upcoming critical earnings reports in 2024

Thousands of stocks trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq exchanges in the United States and thousands more trade on over-the-counter (OTC) markets and on international stock exchanges. So, it's impossible for us to discuss all of them. However, here's a list of some of the most closely followed companies when it comes to earnings reports and when investors can expect to hear from them next.

It's important to note that most companies don't announce their earnings release date until a few weeks before it happens. In many cases (including in the table above), earnings dates that are a month or more in the future are approximate and based on the company's previous earnings release activity.

Recent reports

Recent important earnings reports

For the 10 stocks in the earnings calendar chart above, here's a rundown of how things went the last time they reported earnings:

1. Amazon

Amazon reported its first-quarter earnings on Aug. 1, 2024, and the results were generally strong. Earnings surpassed analysts' expectations, and the company's cost-cutting efforts resulted in excellent profit margin growth. In fact, net income more than doubled year over year. Looking to the third quarter, Amazon expects year-over-year revenue growth of 8% to 11%.

2. Tesla

In the first quarter of 2024, Tesla reported a 2% year-over-year increase in revenue, exceeding analysts' expectations. However, earnings were a bit weaker than expected, and there's still a lingering fear that automakers will lose pricing power on electric vehicles as more new models roll out. The stock slid after earnings as sales of Tesla vehicles fell for the second consecutive quarter.

3. Microsoft

In its fiscal fourth quarter of 2024 (its fiscal year ends June 30), Microsoft reported $64.7 billion in total revenue, which was above expectations. However, the company's forward guidance and its projections for operating income didn't quite meet expectations.

On the bottom line, Microsoft's earnings came in better than expected, with just over $22 billion in net profit. Revenue growth in the cloud services business, which includes Azure, was especially strong, and management said artificial intelligence (AI) demand is incredibly high right now.

4. Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway is one of the few companies that always reports earnings on Saturdays, as management wants the market to have time to digest it before trading opens on Monday. In the second quarter of 2024, Berkshire reported strong year-over-year growth in its operating businesses, especially when it comes to the large insurance operation.

Thanks to some massive stock sales, including about half its Apple (AAPL 1.23%) stock, Berkshire reported an all-time high cash and short-term investments balance of $277 billion, giving the company tremendous financial flexibility going forward.

5. Nvidia

In the fourth quarter of its 2024 fiscal year, graphics chipmaker Nvidia reported both revenue and earnings that handily surpassed expectations. The company has been a major beneficiary of the surge in AI investment, and this has been fueling rapid growth in recent quarters. In fact, Nvidia's revenue was a staggering 122% higher than in the year-ago quarter.

The company's net income nearly tripled from $6.2 billion to $16.6 billion. The AI-fueled data center chipmaking business was an especially strong point, with sales growing 154% year over year.

6. C3.ai

AI has been one of the most closely watched tech trends of 2024, and C3.ai is one of the most notable players in the space. In the fourth quarter of its 2024 fiscal year (ended April 30), C3.ai reported revenue growth of 20% year over year, with 41% growth in subscription revenue (which makes up 92% of the total).

The company's forward guidance calls for strong revenue growth in the 2025 fiscal year. The company also reported $750 million in cash on its balance sheet and positive free cash flow, which gives the business financial flexibility while it grows.

7. Alphabet

In the second quarter of 2024, Alphabet (better known for its main business, Google) reported earnings and revenue that exceeded analysts' expectations. Its fast-growing Google Cloud business surpassed expectations, although the YouTube advertising business' revenue came in a little light.

Alphabet's management also announced a new $5 billion multiyear investment in the Waymo self-driving car business, which now makes over 50,000 paid rides every week.

8. Shopify

E-commerce service platform Shopify beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines in the second quarter of 2024, and the company's forward guidance was also a pleasant surprise to investors. Gross merchandise volume from Shopify customers soared by 22% from year-ago levels, and payment volume through the platform was quite strong.

Management did caution that consumer spending remains "in flux," as many people cut back on discretionary spending, but said that Shopify continues to take market share, setting itself up for long-term success regardless of short-term headwinds.

9. Block

Despite fears of lower consumer spending, fintech giant Block (formerly Square) reported solid second-quarter 2024 results throughout its business. Gross profit increased by 20% year over year, and while revenue came in a bit light, net income grew by 91% year over year.

Block also increased its forward guidance for gross profit, adjusted operating income, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). Block's Cash App is growing its active user base at a double-digit rate and reported 23% year-over-year gross profit growth for the quarter.

10. Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, better known by its former name, Facebook, reported second-quarter 2024 earnings that beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines. For the third quarter, the company's revenue guidance came in significantly higher than analysts were looking for. Meta reported 22% growth in advertising revenue, double the 11% growth rate rival Alphabet reported. There are 3.27 billion daily active users on the company's platforms.

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Their importance

Why are earnings reports important?

Earnings reports are important because they provide lots of important insights into the current state of the companies you invest in and clues about where those companies could be heading. Among other things, earnings reports can help you spot growth trends, profit margin growth or contractions, balance sheet health, and how management expects the business to perform going forward.

It's also important to note that earnings reports generally coincide with a conference call with the company's management team and analysts who cover it (also known as an earnings call). These can also be worth listening to, as the company's CEO, CFO, and other key executives can provide context and commentary about the numbers you read in their earnings reports.

With most U.S. companies, earnings reports are the most up-to-date look investors will get at a company's business and financials. Reading the most recent earnings report is an important part of doing ongoing due diligence as a buy-and-hold investor and can help you find new investment opportunities.

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