Definition: Form 10-Q, is also known as a 10-Q or 10Q, is a quarterly report mandated by the United States federal Securities and Exchange Commission, to be filed by publicly traded corporations.
Explanation: Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, it’s an SEC filing that must be filed quarterly with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It contains similar information to the annual form 10-K, however the information is generally less detailed, and the financial statements are generally unaudited. Information for the final quarter of a firm’s fiscal year is included in the 10-K, so only three 10-Q filings are made each year.
These reports generally compare last quarter to the current quarter and last years quarter to this years quarter. The SEC put this form in place to facilitate better informed investors. The form 10-Q must be filed within 40 days for large accelerated filers and accelerated filers or 45 days after the end of the fiscal quarter for all other registrants (formerly 45 days).
A company’s earnings per share is the portion of a company’s profit that is allocated to each outstanding share of common stock, and, like cash flow per share, serves as an indicator of a company’s profitability. Because the cash flow per share takes into consideration a company’s ability to generate cash, it is regarded by some analysts as a more accurate measure of a company’s financial situation than the earnings per share metric. Cash flow per share represents the net cash a firm produces, on a per share basis.