We reviewed four quarters of filings for 30 public companies in the Lonergan Silicon Valley 1501 to see what days they were publishing their earnings releases and filing periodic reports, and how many days typically elapsed between when they publish their earnings releases and file their corresponding periodic reports.

Most Common Day for Publishing Earnings

In each of the four quarters, the most common day of the week to publish earnings was either Wednesday or Thursday, and overall, across all four quarters, the most common day of the week to publish earnings was Wednesday. The least common day to publish earnings, by far (with only three companies doing so across all four quarters), was Friday.

Most Common Day for Filing Periodic Reports

Unlike publishing an earnings release, filing periodic reports on a Friday was a fairly common practice among the companies that we reviewed. In the first and third quarters, and overall, across all four quarters, the most common day of the week to file the Form 10-Q or Form 10-K, as applicable, was Friday, followed closely by Wednesday. In the second quarter, the most common day of the week to file the Form 10-Q was Thursday, followed closely by Friday and Wednesday, and in the fourth quarter, the most common day of the week to file the Form 10-K was Monday, followed closely by Friday.

Number of Days Between Publishing Earnings and Filing Periodic Reports

Not surprisingly, the number of days that elapsed between the publication of the earnings release and the filing of the Form 10-Q was typically fewer than the number of days that elapsed between the publication of the earnings release and the filing of the Form 10-K, a much more comprehensive and time-consuming filing.

Earnings Release and Form 10-Q. Looking at each of the first three quarters, most of the companies that we reviewed filed their Form 10-Q either on the same day as they publish their earnings release or the next day. The full range of days elapsed between publishing the earnings release and filing the Form 10-Q was 0 to 9 days in each of the first two quarters, and 0 to 14 days in the third quarter, with the average number of days elapsed in each of the three quarters at one day.

Earnings Release and Form 10-K. Looking solely at the fourth quarter, the number of days elapsed between publishing the earnings release and filing the Form 10-K varied from the same day (two companies) up to 44 days (one company), with the average number of days elapsed at just over 15.

Takeaways

Based on this sample set of SV150 companies, it appears that most companies prefer not to publish earnings on Fridays, when the earnings release may receive less attention as people are often looking ahead to the weekend. Consistent with what we see in our practice, midweek from Tuesday through Thursday is the most popular time for publishing earnings. While earnings releases are more common midweek, the timing for periodic report filings, which are often less newsworthy events, varies and includes, in many cases, Fridays.

While some companies file their Form 10-Qs several days (or longer) after publishing earnings, most of the companies that we reviewed filed their Form 10-Q on the same day that they published earnings or on the next day thereafter. This timing is significantly longer for fourth quarter filings, with the average time from publishing the fiscal year-end earnings release to the filing of the Form 10-K at just over two weeks, and two-thirds of companies filing their Form 10-Ks 10 or more days after publishing earnings.

1 We reviewed the most recently furnished or filed, as applicable, first quarter, second quarter, and third quarter Item 2.02 Form 8-Ks and Form 10-Qs, and the most recently furnished or filed, as applicable, fourth quarter Item 2.02 Form 8-Ks and Form 10-Ks, from 30 companies in the Lonergan Silicon Valley 150 (SV150). The SV150 list includes the top 150 public companies with headquarters in the Silicon Valley ranked by annual sales. The 30 companies reviewed included 10 of the SV150 companies ranked 1 to 50, 10 of the SV150 companies ranked 51 to 100, and 10 of the SV150 companies ranked 101 to 150.