What a 10-K and a 10-Q (and an 8-K) are: how to read a US company's SEC filings

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) supervises the US securities markets. Listed companies hand it their accounts and notices on forms with fixed names, and everything they file is published on EDGAR, an electronic registry open to anyone, with no account and no fee.

Each company has an identification number there, the CIK, which does not change even if the company changes its name or ticker: Apple's is 320193. Each filing also carries its own accession number and two dates that are easy to mix up: the end of the period it describes and the day it was filed. Weeks pass between the two, and during that time the figures are not public.

The 10-K is filed once a year, after the fiscal year closes, and follows a fixed index that is the same for every company. The most-read parts:

The deadline depends on size: 60 days after year-end for large listed companies, 75 or 90 for the rest. And the fiscal year does not always end in December:

The chief executive and the chief financial officer sign a personal certification that the report is accurate, attached as an exhibit. If the company cannot make the deadline, it files a notice of late filing (NT 10-K), and that is news in itself.

The 10-Q covers the first, second and third quarters of the fiscal year; the fourth has no 10-Q of its own because the 10-K covers it. It contains the quarter's balance sheet, income statement and cash flow, management's discussion and a summary of changes in risks and litigation. The auditor reviews the statements but does not audit them: it is a much narrower check. The deadline is 40 days after quarter-end for large listed companies and 45 for the rest.

Apple closed its third fiscal quarter on June 27, 2026 and filed the 10-Q on July 31; JPMorgan closed its quarter on June 30 and filed on August 6, 37 days later.

A classic trap when reading them: the 10-Q reports the standalone quarter and the year-to-date figure side by side, and the 10-K reports the full year but not the fourth quarter separately. To get that fourth quarter you subtract the nine-month figure from the full year. That is how this site does it, as section 3 of the methodology explains.

The 8-K has no calendar: it is filed when a material event occurs, within the following four business days. Each type of event has its item number. The most common:

• 1.01: a material agreement signed.
• 2.01: an acquisition or disposal of assets completed.
• 2.02: results for the quarter or the year.
• 5.02: the departure or appointment of a director or senior officer.
• 7.01 and 8.01: other disclosures and other events.
• 9.01: the exhibits, which is where the actual document goes, such as the press release.

The earnings one (2.02) is what moves stock prices, and it usually arrives before the 10-Q. JPMorgan filed its own on July 14, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. New York time, before the open, and the 10-Q 23 days later. Apple filed its own on July 30 at 4:30 p.m., after the close, and the 10-Q the next day. NVIDIA and Microsoft filed the release and the report on the same day. The time matters: a release before the open is reflected in the price that same session, and one after the close, in the next.

• Form 4: every purchase or sale of shares by a director or officer, within two business days. It is the basis of the insider buying guide.
• DEF 14A: the proxy statement for the shareholder meeting, with executive pay and what is being voted.
• 13F: the holdings of managers with more than 100 million dollars in stocks, 45 days after each quarter.
• SC 13D and 13G: anyone crossing 5% of a company's shares.
• 10-K/A and 10-Q/A: amendments to a report already filed.
• 20-F and 6-K: the 10-K and 8-K equivalents for many foreign companies listed in the US.

• Start with the press release in the earnings 8-K. It sums up the figures in two or three pages and says what the company considers important.
• In the 10-K, go to Item 7 and then Item 1A. Management's discussion explains the numbers; the risks say what worries the company itself. Comparing them with last year's shows what has changed.
• Read the notes, not just the tables. Sales by segment and region, debt maturities and one-off items are in the notes to Item 8.
• Always check two dates. A fiscal year that ends in December is not known until February or March. Anyone who studies the past with a year's accounts before they were filed is using information nobody had that day.

That is why this site's model uses each SEC figure only from the date it was filed, never from the period-end date. Since 2009-2011, the figures in 10-Ks and 10-Qs are also tagged in a machine-readable format (XBRL), and the SEC publishes them as data: that is where the accounts come from that the site uses to compute the value, quality and growth scores of the ~500 companies in the rankings.

Every S&P 500 company page opens with a block called “AAPL latest SEC filings” (with each company's own ticker), with three lines: the latest 10-K with its filing date and the fiscal year it covers, the latest 10-Q with the quarter it covers, and the latest earnings release (8-K) with the session it arrived in, before the open or after the close. Each line links to the document on sec.gov, and a final link leads to all the company's filings on EDGAR.

If the most recent report the site has is too old to be the latest, the line is left out: better silent than showing as latest a report that no longer is. Try it on the pages of Apple, JPMorgan, NVIDIA or Microsoft. The “SEC Filings” tab on the same page also lists the most recent filings of every type.

On EDGAR, Apple's list of 10-Ks is on sec.gov, and its July 31, 2026 10-Q is here. The SEC's full-text search is at EDGAR Full-Text Search.

What is the difference between a 10-K and a 10-Q?

The 10-K is the annual report: audited financial statements for the full fiscal year, a description of the business and the risk factors. The 10-Q is the quarterly report: the quarter's statements, reviewed by the auditor but not audited, and much shorter. A company files three 10-Qs a year; the fourth quarter goes inside the 10-K.

Where can I read a company's SEC filings for free?

On EDGAR, the SEC's public registry at sec.gov: search the company by name, ticker or CIK. On this site, every S&P 500 company page links straight to its latest 10-K, its latest 10-Q and its latest earnings release, for example Apple's.

How long does a company take to file its 10-K?

At most 60 days after the fiscal year ends for a large listed company, 75 or 90 for smaller ones. JPMorgan closed its fiscal year on December 31, 2025 and filed its 10-K on February 13, 2026, 44 days later.

Is the 10-Q audited?

No. The auditor reviews the 10-Q statements, with a much narrower scope than a full audit. Only the annual statements in the 10-K carry the audit report.

What is an earnings 8-K?

An 8-K is the notice a company files when something material happens. The earnings one carries item 2.02 and attaches the press release with the quarter's figures. It usually arrives before the 10-Q: JPMorgan announced its results on July 14, 2026 and filed the 10-Q on August 6.

To put the 10-K's figures in context: what the P/E ratio is and how to compare it with its sector and what value investing is. Also: what insider buying is, what momentum is, how to read a portfolio's Sharpe ratio and drawdown and three ways to invest in the S&P 500. How the site uses SEC data is in the methodology.