A fiscal quarter is one of the four three-month periods of a company's fiscal year. The quarters are numbered from the start of the fiscal year, not the calendar year, so one company's Q1 can be another's Q3.
How each quarter is reported
- Q1, Q2 and Q3 are each reported on a 10-Q. The income statement gives the three months and the year to date; the cash flow statement gives the year to date only.
- Q4 has no 10-Q. The 10-K reports the full year, and most companies no longer report the fourth quarter on its own.
On Listed
Three-month figures that the filings do not give directly are derived by subtraction from year-to-date figures. Q4 is the fiscal year less the first three quarters. This works for amounts that add up over time, such as revenue and cash flow. It does not work for per-share figures, so Q4 diluted EPS is shown only when the company reports it.
In the forecast leagues, a company becomes a target when its fiscal quarter ends, and stays open until its first results filing for that quarter.