When is quarter end

Not all companies will have fiscal quarters that correspond to calendar quarters and it is common for a company to close their fourth quarter after their busiest time of year. Dividends are also often paid quarterly although many companies outside the U. Companies have two main accounting periods —the fiscal quarter and the fiscal year FY.

The fiscal year for most companies runs from Jan. The standard calendar quarters that make up the year are as follows:. Some companies have fiscal years that follow different dates. Costco Wholesale Corporation's fiscal year begins in September and ends in the following August.

Thus, its fiscal fourth-quarter includes June, July, and August. Companies, investors, and analysts use data from different quarters to make comparisons and evaluate trends. Many companies are seasonal which would make a comparison over sequential quarters misleading. A retail company could earn half its annual profits in the fourth quarter while a construction company does most of its business in the first three quarters. In this situation, comparing the first quarter results for a department store to their performance during the fourth quarter would indicate an alarming drop in sales.

Evaluating a seasonal company during its slow quarters can be enlightening. It is reasonable to assume that if sales and profits are growing in the off-quarters when compared to the same quarter in prior years, the intrinsic strength of the company is also improving. For example, auto dealers typically have a slow first quarter and rarely conduct incentive sales programs in February and March. Thus, if an auto dealer saw significant improvement in sales in the first quarter, this year compared to last, it may indicate the potential for surprisingly strong sales in the second and third quarters as well.

Quarterly earnings reports are important for publicly traded companies and their investors. If a company has a good quarter, its stock value may increase. If the company has a poor quarter the value of its stock could drop dramatically. All public companies in the U. Each Q includes unaudited financial statements and operations information for the previous three months quarter.

A publicly traded company must also file an annual report, known as Form K. The annual report will often include more detailed information than the quarterly reports including an audit statement, presentations, and additional disclosures. These estimates are used by analysts and investors to develop their expectations for performance over the next few quarters.

The estimates and guidance provided by analysts and management can have a big impact on a stock every three months. Similarly, if management issues guidance—or an analyst upgrade their independent estimates—the stock can rise significantly.

In the U. In many economies outside the U. It is also not unusual to find companies outside the U. The payment of quarterly dividends can create some volatility in a stock's price when the ex-date arrives.

Some analysts have noticed that investors may rebalance or sell their stock on the ex-date or soon after when the dividend growth rate appears to be slowing or other changes in the market make the dividend less attractive. For a variety of reasons, some public companies will use a non-standard or non-calendar quarterly reporting system.

In addition, certain governments use different quarter systems. The first quarter of the U. State governments may also have their own fiscal calendars. Sometimes a company may have a non-standard fiscal year to help with business or tax planning.

Releasing an annual report, which may be accompanied by shareholder meetings and additional disclosures, after the busiest part of your year helps managers and shareholders make better decisions about the year ahead. Companies that rely on U. Estimated tax payments are due at the beginning of each quarter for the previous quarter as follows:. Reputable Publishers are also sourced and cited where appropriate. Learn more about the standards we follow in producing Accurate, Unbiased and Researched Content in our editorial policy.

September 24, When Does the Quarter End? Denise Elizabeth P. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Your Money. Personal Finance. Your Practice. Popular Courses. Investing Portfolio Management. Companies, financial analysts, and government agencies including the Fed all release reports and critical data at the end of a quarter.

Both retail and institutional investors often use the end of a quarter to re-evaluate and rebalance their portfolios. Article Sources. Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts.

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