10-Q

10-Q is a quarterly reporting form that must be prepared and disclosed by US public companies in accordance with US securities laws. Quarterly reporting 10-Q, unlike the annual reporting 10-K, is not audited; that is, it does not contain an audit opinion. 10-Q forms are posted on the US Securities and Exchange Commission site.

Companies are required to publish the results of their activities after each quarter (first, second, and third) within their financial year. The financial year may coincide with or differ from the calendar year.

For example, the financial year of Microsoft ends not at the end of December, as is the case for many other companies, but at the end of June. Therefore, the 10-Q reporting that the organization submits on March 31, is not for the 1st quarter, but for the 3rd quarter. Tesla, in turn, has a standard financial year, so the reporting it discloses on June 30 corresponds to the 2nd quarter.

The period during which issuers are required to publish 10-Q reports depends on how many shares they have in the public float. Large public issuers with a public float of USD 75 million and over disclose their financial statements within 40 days of the end of the reporting quarter. Other companies can publish them within 45 days.

The 10-Q form usually consists of two parts. In the first part, the company discloses the following information:

1. Financial statements prepared in accordance with US GAAP standards (balance sheet, income statement, statement of changes in equity, statement of cash flow, notes to statements)

2. Management discussion and analysis of the entity’s financial situation and performance for the quarter

3. Market risk information

4. Internal controls

For instance, from the 10-Q form, we can learn that Tesla’s current assets, as of March 31, 2023, amounted to 42,997 million USD.

The second part of the report discloses other information, such as court cases, risk factors, unregistered sales of securities, defaults, and other data.

The value of the 10-Q form is that it gives investors information about the current financial status of the company, as well as data on the results of its activities for the past quarter. With this reporting form, the user can compare the company’s financial results with those of past periods, as well as with those of other companies.