In short
- Earnings season is the stretch when quarterly results cluster, starting mid-January, mid-April, mid-July and mid-October.
- Reporting is heavily concentrated: 59.5% of a year's releases landed in just eight weeks, and 83.4% in sixteen.
- Across the last seven completed seasons, S&P 500 companies beat consensus 80.6% of the time — yet only 50.1% closed higher the next session.
Earnings season at a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is earnings season? | The stretch when quarterly results cluster |
| How often? | Four times a year |
| When does it start? | Mid-January, mid-April, mid-July, mid-October |
| Busiest point | Two to three weeks into each season |
| How long? | About four to six weeks |
| Who reports first? | Large banks feature heavily early on |
| Why does it matter? | Results and guidance for your holdings arrive all at once |
| How concentrated? | 59.5% of a year's releases fall in eight weeks |
What is earnings season?
Earnings season is the period when listed companies' quarterly results cluster into a few weeks. Most US companies close quarters at the end of March, June, September and December and publish results within weeks of the close, which puts the flood in January, April, July and October. It is not an officially defined period. Fiscal calendars and reporting schedules vary by company, so the start and end dates are not fixed.
Earnings season is not an officially defined period — it is a convention that emerged from the clustering itself.
When is each US earnings season?
Each season begins roughly two weeks after the quarter closes and runs four to six. Large banks report first; megacap technology and industrials follow.
| Quarter reported | Usually released | Busiest stretch |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 results | Mid-January – February | Late January – early February |
| Q1 results | Mid-April – May | Late April – early May |
| Q2 results | Mid-July – August | Late July – early August |
| Q3 results | Mid-October – November | Late October – early November |
Note: “the Q2 2026 earnings season” normally means the July–August season that reports April–June results. The season and the quarter it covers run one quarter apart, which trips people up.
Why results cluster after quarter-end
Fiscal calendars are the main reason: most US companies close quarters at the end of March, June, September and December. There is a regulatory backdrop too. The SEC's deadline for the quarterly report (Form 10-Q) is 40 days after quarter-end for large accelerated and accelerated filers, and 45 days for others. Earnings releases and 10-Q filings are not the same event, but the deadlines help explain why disclosure bunches into the weeks after a quarter closes. Companies whose fiscal year does not end in December report out of step — some retailers and software firms in particular.
Does reporting really cluster like a season?
The data says yes. Grouping 5,005 US earnings reports into weeks, the eight busiest weeks carried 59.5% of the year's releases and the top sixteen carried 83.4%. A year has 52 weeks, so most reporting happens in under a third of the calendar. By month the four peaks are unmistakable, with March, June, September and December nearly empty.
- 59.5%
- Share of the year's releases in the eight busiest weeks
- 83.4%
- Share in the top sixteen weeks (four per season)
- 181
- S&P 500 companies reporting in a single week (peak)
- 1 275
- 2 844
- 3 129
- 4 582
- 5 612
- 6 59
- 7 606
- 8 587
- 9 60
- 10 641
- 11 535
- 12 75
AFTERNS data · Period: 2025-09-01 to 2026-08-31 · Sample: 5,005 US earnings reports with a confirmed release date · Grouped by release date, Monday-start weeks · Bars show monthly release counts.
The S&P 500 is tighter still: the week beginning 27 April 2026 carried 181 S&P 500 companies — more than a third of the index reporting in a single week.
Why do banks feature first?
Large financials — JPMorgan, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup — appear early in most US seasons. The pattern shows up in AFTERNS data: in the July 2026 season, JPMorgan, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs all reported on 14 July, with Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, BNY Mellon and PNC following the next day. Bank results carry read-throughs on loan demand, credit costs, consumer spending and corporate activity, so they are widely used as an early read on the season ahead.
What did the last seven seasons look like?
Across the last seven completed seasons, S&P 500 constituents beat consensus 80.6% of the time on average — yet only 50.1% closed higher the next session, and 46.1% of the beats closed lower. Strong results and rising prices are not the same thing, even measured a whole season at a time.
| Reported in | S&P 500 reports | Beat rate | Beats that fell | Closed higher | Average move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct–Dec 2024 | 493 | 76.4% | 45.3% | 48.1% | ±4.8% |
| Jan–Mar 2025 | 491 | 76.6% | 52.3% | 47.0% | ±4.6% |
| Apr–Jun 2025 | 492 | 79.7% | 41.2% | 52.4% | ±4.0% |
| Jul–Sep 2025 | 494 | 81.8% | 46.0% | 49.6% | ±4.9% |
| Oct–Dec 2025 | 494 | 84.9% | 44.3% | 51.8% | ±4.4% |
| Jan–Mar 2026 | 496 | 77.3% | 43.5% | 53.8% | ±4.8% |
| Apr–Jun 2026 | 491 | 87.8% | 50.0% | 47.7% | ±5.0% |
| Seven-season average | 493 | 80.6% | 46.1% | 50.1% | ±4.6% |
S&P 500 season data · Constituents: current index membership, not restated historically · Reaction: next-session regular-hours close · 'Reported in' is the calendar quarter of release, one quarter ahead of the period covered · The season still in progress at collection time is excluded from the table and the average; live figures are on the AFTERNS earnings season pages.
Beat rates run above 80% while the odds of a higher close sit near 50%. At season scale as well as company scale, good results and rising prices are different things. For context, FactSet puts the S&P 500's positive EPS surprise rate at a 78% five-year average and 76% ten-year average — a high beat rate is not unusual.
How much do stocks move the day after?
Across the last seven seasons, the average absolute next-session move for S&P 500 constituents was 4.0% to 5.0%. Direction stayed close to a coin flip, but the size of the move confirms earnings as a major single-day event for individual stocks. This analysis does not compare against the same stocks' typical non-earnings daily range, so it cannot say how many times larger earnings-day moves are than normal.
What to check during earnings season
You do not need to follow every report. For your own holdings or sectors, four things come first:
- 1EPS and revenue consensushow far the result cleared expectations — the size matters more than the direction.
- 2Next-quarter guidancethe forward outlook often moves the stock more than the quarter just reported.
- 3The price reactiondid a strong result still sell off, or a weak one rally?
- 4Peers in the same sectora competitor reporting first may have already reset expectations.
Data and method
Every figure here was computed directly from the AFTERNS US earnings database.
- 1Concentration5,005 reports released between 1 September 2025 and 31 August 2026, grouped into Monday-start weeks; the bar chart shows monthly counts from the same sample.
- 2Season scorecardgrouped by the calendar quarter of release, limited to S&P 500 constituents with a next-session price reaction. The quarter still in progress at collection time is excluded.
- 3Beat ratereports with both consensus and actual EPS available, compared on the same adjusted (non-GAAP) basis.
- 4Average moveabsolute next-session regular-hours change, which can differ from the extended-hours reaction.
- 5S&P 500 membership uses the current constituent list and is not restated historically.
- 6Limitationno comparison was made against non-earnings-day volatility, so this data cannot quantify how much larger earnings-day moves are than normal.
Frequently asked questions
What does earnings season mean?
The stretch of weeks when quarterly results cluster. It exists because most companies close a quarter at the end of March, June, September and December and report within weeks.
When is US earnings season?
It starts mid-January, mid-April, mid-July and mid-October and runs about four to six weeks, peaking two to three weeks in.
Why do results cluster after quarter-end?
Fiscal calendars align at the end of March, June, September and December, and the SEC's 10-Q deadline is 40 days after quarter-end for large accelerated and accelerated filers, 45 days for others.
How concentrated is earnings season?
Of 5,005 US reports over a year, 59.5% landed in the eight busiest weeks and 83.4% in sixteen. One week carried 181 S&P 500 companies.
Which companies report first?
Large banks feature heavily early on. In the July 2026 season, JPMorgan, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs all reported on 14 July.
Do most companies beat expectations during earnings season?
Across the last seven completed seasons the S&P 500 beat rate averaged 80.6%. But 46.1% of those beats closed lower the next session, and only 50.1% of all reports closed higher.
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