Guide
Earnings season checklist for retail investors
A practical checklist of questions to ask before, during, and after an earnings release.
Updated 2026-07-16
Before the print
- What are consensus EPS and revenue estimates?
- Which metrics matter most for this business (subscribers, margins, guidance)?
- What would falsify your current thesis?
After the release
- Beat/miss vs estimate — and more importantly, why
- Guidance: raised, maintained, or cut?
- Margin and cash flow commentary vs the income statement headline
- One-time items that distort the quarter
Questions worth asking an AI workspace
- “Summarize the latest earnings themes for $TICKER with sources.”
- “How did margins and free cash flow move versus the prior four quarters?”
- “What did analysts revise after the print?”
Keep perspective
One quarter is noise until it becomes a trend. Use earnings to update probabilities — not to outsource decisions. Not investment advice.