Earnings Report Law and Legal Definition
An Earnings Report is a financial document published by a publicly-traded company itemizing earnings, expenses and net profit. An earnings report can also be called an income statement or a profit and loss statement. over a given period. Depending on the company, an earnings report may be published quarterly or yearly and must be distributed to all stockholders of record. Many stockholders use an earnings report to assess a company's financial health and by comparing the company's earnings report over time can assess the overall direction that a company is headed. Some investors consider an earnings report to be equivalent to a report card on a company's management. The better a company is managed, the better its earnings report is likely to be. An earnings report is one tool that investors have at their disposal when making investment decisions.