Recently, many investment friends have asked me how to quickly grasp what’s happening during earnings season. In fact, this comes down to a basic skill—understanding the timing of when financial reports are released. I’ve noticed that many people don’t have enough understanding in this area, so today I’ll organize my experience.

First, let’s talk about Taiwan’s stock market. Taiwan’s rules are actually quite strict: all listed companies must complete their filings within the statutory period, with no exceptions. I myself rely on knowing these timing points so I can position myself in advance of earnings season. The schedule for when financial reports are released in Taiwan is quite regular. Annual reports must be finalized by the end of March, Q1 quarterly reports are mid-May, Q2 is mid-August, and Q3 is mid-November. These deadlines are fixed, so large companies such as TSMC and MediaTek usually release earlier.

There’s one detail I pay close attention to—Taiwan also has a monthly revenue announcement system. By the 10th of each month, companies must publish the figures for the previous month. This data is actually very important because it’s updated and more timely, and many people use it as a leading indicator to judge a company’s situation before quarterly reports.

As for the annual analyst conference, it is usually held from late March to mid-May, especially in mid-to-late March, which is peak season. I’ve found that around the time of the conference—before and after—stock prices often fluctuate more significantly, which is also why knowing the timing of financial report releases can help with investment decisions.

The logic in the U.S. stock market is different. First, you need to understand that in the U.S., “earnings release” usually refers to the time when companies issue press releases and hold analyst conferences, not the SEC’s formal filing deadline—these two timelines can be quite far apart. The filing deadline for the annual report (10-K) in the U.S. depends on the company’s size. Large accelerated filers must file within 60 days after the end of the year, mid-sized companies have 75 days, and smaller companies have 90 days. In other words, companies whose fiscal year ends on December 31, 2025, generally need to complete filing by early March.

However, in practice, the peak period for U.S. earnings releases is concentrated from late January to the end of February, and many companies simply don’t wait until the final deadline. I’ve noticed for the Q1 2026 earnings season: TSMC’s ADR is expected to be released around April 16; Tesla around April 20; and tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, and Apple tend to concentrate their releases from late April to early May. This time period is usually what people call the “Super Earnings Week,” when stock price volatility is at its highest.

To keep up with when earnings are released, my own approach is: for Taiwan stocks, use the Market Observation Post System (MOPS). It’s the official platform—authoritative and complete. Many brokerage apps also have an organized calendar for analyst conferences; just check it and you’ll see the schedule. For U.S. stocks, you can go directly to a company’s investor relations website, or use information sites such as Yahoo Finance, the Nasdaq official site, and Investing.com—these sites all have dedicated earnings calendars. If you really want to look up the original earnings report data, you can go to the SEC’s EDGAR database, search by the company code, and you’ll find the complete 10-K and 10-Q documents.

To be honest, basic knowledge like the timing of earnings releases is easy to overlook, but it has a pretty big impact on both short-term and long-term investing. I recommend that everyone write down the earnings timing for key companies—especially the period around analyst conferences, when market volatility is often the most intense. If you want to catch opportunities during earnings season, the first step is to know when these companies will publish their results and hold their analyst conferences.