Jun 6, 2026· sec · fundamentals

How to read a 10-Q

A 10-Q is a company's quarterly report. Here's what's in it, how it differs from the annual 10-K, and how to read the numbers without a data terminal.

A 10-Q is the report a US-listed company files with the SEC after each of its first three fiscal quarters. It's the quarterly companion to the annual 10-K, and it's where you go to see how a business is tracking between annual reports — revenue, earnings and cash flow for the most recent three months, while they're still fresh.

How a 10-Q differs from a 10-K

The 10-K is the annual report: comprehensive, audited, and filed within 60 to 90 days of the fiscal year end. The 10-Q is lighter — condensed financial statements that are reviewed but not fully audited, filed within about 40 days of quarter close. You get the numbers sooner, but with less detail and without the auditor's full sign-off.

The other key difference: companies file a 10-Q for Q1, Q2 and Q3 only — never for Q4. The fourth quarter is folded into the annual 10-K instead, which is why a clean four-quarter series takes a little arithmetic. See how to find a company's quarterly revenue in SEC filings for why Q4 is always the missing piece and how to back it out.

What's inside

A 10-Q has two halves. Part I is the financials: condensed income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, plus the notes. Part II covers everything else — legal proceedings, updates to the risk factors first laid out in the 10-K, and any material changes since the annual report. For most readers Part I is the substance; Part II is where you check whether anything has materially changed.

Reading it without opening the filing

You don't have to open each 10-Q and read the statements by hand. Finterm is a free SEC EDGAR viewer that pulls the structured data behind every 10-Q and 10-K and lays it out quarter by quarter — revenue, net income, EPS and cash flow side by side — so the trend across filings is visible without a spreadsheet. If you're new to the filings themselves, start with how to read a 10-K for free.

info10-Q numbers are unaudited. They're reviewed by the auditor but not given the full audit opinion a 10-K gets, so the occasional figure is restated when the annual report lands. For quarter-to-quarter trends that's rarely an issue, but it's worth knowing before you build a thesis on a single quarter.

Filing deadlines

Large accelerated filers (public float of $700M or more) must file a 10-Q within 40 days of the quarter's end. Accelerated filers ($75M–$700M float) also have 40 days. Smaller companies get 45 days. A company that can't meet this deadline files an NT 10-Q (notification of late filing) — visible on EDGAR and worth noting. Repeated late filings sometimes precede restatements.

What to look for in Part II

Part II is mostly boilerplate, but two items matter. Item 1A updates the risk factors from the most recent 10-K — any risk that's been added or materially modified since the annual report tells you something has changed in management's view of the business. Item 2 covers unregistered sales of securities, which surfaces small private placements and warrant exercises that may not otherwise make headlines.

Year-to-date vs. quarterly: a common trap

Some companies present income statement figures on a year-to-date basis in their 10-Qs rather than as discrete three-month figures. If Q3 revenue looks like it's three times Q1, check whether you're reading a nine-month YTD figure instead of the July–September quarter alone. The cover page of the 10-Q specifies the period; the income statement header will say either 'three months ended' or 'nine months ended'. Mixing the two when building a quarterly series gives nonsense results.