A quarterly earnings report is a document that must be filed at the end of each quarter by publicly-traded companies documenting their performance during a given quarter. They are essentially for the use of the companies' shareholders.
A quarterly earnings report contains the companies' financial statements such as the balance sheet and income statement.
Shareholders compare one quarter's earnings to previous quarters' earnings to determine how the firm is doing financially and how financially sound it is. Two of the most important financial metrics shareholders analyze are net income and earnings per share.
Quarterly earnings reports can be accessed for any public company at one of the Securities and Exchange Commission's websites called EDGAR.
Microsoft, Inc. will release its third quarter earnings report tomorrow.
