Earnings Calendar Guide
How to read earnings reports and use post-earnings price performance as a trading signal.
BMO vs AMC
Companies report earnings either before the regular session opens or after it closes. The timing determines which price becomes the baseline for measuring market reaction.
Results drop overnight or early morning. Traders have until 9:30 AM ET to digest the news. The reaction is visible at the opening bell as a gap up or gap down.
Results drop after 4:00 PM ET. The stock trades in the after-hours session, then gaps at the next morning's open. The "base" is that day's closing price — the last clean price before the news.
A small number of companies report during market hours (TNS — Time Not Specified). These are treated the same as AMC for performance tracking.
Base Price
The base price is the last unaffected close before the market knew the earnings result. All performance columns are percentages relative to this single number.
Using the same denominator for every column means you can read the full trajectory — gap, hold, fade, or run — without recalculating anything.
Performance Columns
| Column | Definition |
|---|---|
| Base | Last unaffected closing price before the earnings announcement (dollars) |
| Open | First post-earnings open price — where the overnight gap lands (dollars) |
| Gap% | (Open − Base) / Base × 100 — positive means gapped up, negative gapped down |
| D1% | Day 1 close vs Base — the full post-earnings move from the unaffected close |
| D2% | Day 2 close vs Day 1 close — daily change after the initial reaction |
| D3% – D5% | Each day's close vs the prior day's close — ongoing daily momentum |
D1% anchors to Base so you see the full earnings move. D2–D5 are day-over-day so you can see whether each session individually followed through or reversed — a cumulative-from-base view would bury small daily swings inside the large D1 gap.
Day Counting
Days are counted in trading days (weekends and holidays skipped). D1 is measured from Base. D2 onward are each day-over-day.
EPS Columns
| Column | Definition |
|---|---|
| Est | Analyst consensus EPS estimate heading into the report |
| Rptd | Actual reported EPS (filled after the announcement) |
| Surp% | (Reported − Est) / |Est| × 100 — how much the company beat or missed the consensus estimate |
EPS surprise alone doesn't predict the price move — what matters is how the result compares to the whisper number and forward guidance. A stock can beat EPS estimates and still sell off if guidance disappoints.
In Play View
The In Play tab shows stocks reporting today that are actively moving pre- or post-market. It's refreshed at 4:05 PM ET and populated from today's earnings calendar.
Both BMO stocks (reporting this morning) and AMC stocks (that reported yesterday after close) are shown. Both gap at the open, so both are relevant to watch during this window.
Only AMC/TNS stocks are shown — companies that just reported after today's close. BMO stocks have already gapped and traded a full session, so their move is settled.
A pulsing ● next to a quote means the value is updating live (every 90 seconds). Outside the active windows — or on weekends — all values are static and no live label is shown.
Reading Price Reactions
Compare Gap% to D1%. If Gap% was +12% but D1% is only +4%, sellers stepped in after the open and reclaimed most of the gap intraday. If D1% ≥ Gap%, the gap held and closed near the highs — a sign of conviction.
Each of D2–D5 shows that single day's move, not the cumulative drift from base. A sequence of Gap% +15%, D1% +2%, D2% −3%, D3% −2% tells you: big gap, held the first day, then two days of give-back — the market is fading it.
Gap% +8%, D1% +1%, D2% +2%, D3% +3% — each day adds a little more. The initial gap was modest but follow-through buying kept coming. This pattern often signals a genuine fundamental re-rating.
A stock gaps down −20% (Gap%), then D1% = −2%, D2% = +1%, D3% = +2% — the initial shock was absorbed and dip buyers stepped in. Compare with a stock where D2% = −4%, D3% = −5%: the bad news is still being digested days later.