10-Q (Quarterly Report)

A 10-Q is a quarterly report public companies file with the SEC. It includes unaudited financial statements and management commentary on the company's financial position between annual reports.

The 10-Q is the quarterly pulse check — often containing updated risk disclosures and management commentary that signals whether business conditions are improving or deteriorating.

What this tells you

The quarterly report a US public company files with the SEC. Less detailed than the annual report and, importantly, unaudited — reviewed by auditors rather than audited.

What it does not tell you

There are three a year, not four. No company files a fourth-quarter 10-Q; the fourth quarter is covered by the annual report. Any system that assumes four quarterly filings per year has a hole in it every twelve months and will not necessarily notice. Being unaudited also matters. Quarterly figures are more frequently restated than annual ones, and a restatement that arrives months later silently changes a period that has already been read.

Further reading: Wikipedia