Why there's no beat or miss

Many earnings services say whether a company "beat" or "missed". That compares the results with the analyst consensus: the average of analysts' forecasts for revenue and earnings per share.

Consensus estimates are compiled and sold by private data companies. They're not part of the public disclosures Market Rodeo is built on, so we don't have them.

Instead, our earnings alerts show what the company reported:

• revenue,
• earnings per share, with both the adjusted and the official (GAAP) figure when the company gives both,
• net income,
• the company's own EPS guidance, when it gives one.

To judge a result, compare these figures with your own expectations, or with the company's earlier guidance.