
Why Do Stocks Fall After Earnings Beats?
- Big Money and Liquidity. Liquidity is measured by the number of buyers and sellers in relation to the stability of an asset's price.
- High Expectations. "Priced in" is a phrase commonly used in the world of investing as a company approaches an event. ...
- Option Premium Sellers. ...
What to do if your stocks are all falling?
Specifically, whether a stock is cheap relative to profits and cash flow. When they spot one of these stocks, they buy it for their clients. That helps support the stock’s valuation floor—and eventually helps push the stock price back up. If a quality company becomes super cheap and stays there, it also becomes an acquisition target.
Why do stock prices go up and down so much?
You'll usually see prices go up and down by a percentage point or two, with occasional larger swings. But sometimes, events can occur that cause shares to rise or fall sharply. Increased trading could be caused by an earnings report that shows good or bad financial news.
What causes stock market drop?
Why Do Stock Prices Drop?
- Earnings Reports. Public companies release earnings reports four times a year (quarterly). ...
- Negative Corporate News. Negative corporate news ranges from product recalls to violations in accounting practices. ...
- Implicit Value. ...
- Explicit Value. ...
- Supply and Demand. ...
Why is the stock price goes up or down?
What Makes a Stock Go Up and Down
- Technical Factors. A whole segment of market participants utilize technical analysis to determine which stocks should be bought and when.
- Exogenous Events. Sometimes, valuation, technical analysis and other factors don’t matter as much as global events. ...
- Macroeconomic Environment. ...
- Current Market Trends. ...

Do stocks usually go down after earnings?
In the days around earnings announcements, stock prices usually rise. In general, of course, stocks tend to rise on high volume and to decline on low volume, but Lamont and Frazzini say that whether this happens because of the interpretation of the announcements or because of irrational or random traders is uncertain.
Do stock prices go up after earnings?
News related to a specific company, such as the release of a company's earnings report, can also influence the price of a stock (particularly if the company is posting after a bad quarter). In general, strong earnings generally result in the stock price moving up (and vice versa).
Should you sell stock before or after earnings?
Option 2: Sell part of every growth stock you own before it reports earnings. Believe it or not, this is a decent half-way measure … if you're running a concentrated portfolio. For instance, if you have, say, 12% of your account in a stock that's about to report, maybe you trim that down to 6% or 8%.
Why do earnings affect stock prices?
Investors care about earnings because they ultimately drive stock prices. Strong earnings generally result in the stock price moving up (and vice versa).
Why do stock prices change every second?
Stock prices change every second according to market activity. Buyers and sellers cause prices to change and therefore prices change as a result of supply and demand. And these fluctuations, supply, and demand decide between its buyers and sellers how much each share is worth.
Which algorithms can predict stock price?
Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are widely used for prediction of stock prices and its movements. Every algorithm has its way of learning patterns and then predicting.
Should you buy a stock just before earnings?
One safe tactic is to wait until the company announces before making your move. You face no downside risk, and will hopefully be able to catch shares on the way up. If the stock gaps up powerfully past a correct buy point and runs out of the normal buy zone, you can still buy on the breakaway gap.
Do stock prices go down before earnings?
Many times, a beat in earnings will drive a stock price up after the market opens, but this should never be taken for granted. In fact, it's not uncommon to see a stock's price fall after beating both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) analyst estimates.
What is the best time of day to sell stock?
The opening 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Eastern time (ET) period is often one of the best hours of the day for day trading, offering the biggest moves in the shortest amount of time. A lot of professional day traders stop trading around 11:30 a.m. because that is when volatility and volume tend to taper off.
What is good PE ratio?
So, what is a good PE ratio for a stock? A “good” P/E ratio isn't necessarily a high ratio or a low ratio on its own. The market average P/E ratio currently ranges from 20-25, so a higher PE above that could be considered bad, while a lower PE ratio could be considered better.
What does P E ratio tell you?
The price/earnings ratio, also called the P/E ratio, tells investors how much a company is worth. The P/E ratio simply the stock price divided by the company's earnings per share for a designated period like the past 12 months. The price/earnings ratio conveys how much investors will pay per share for $1 of earnings.
How do you predict if a stock will go up or down?
Topics#1. Influence of FPI/FII and DII.#2. Influence of company's fundamentals. #2.1 About fundamental analysis. #2.2 Correlation between reports, fundamentals & fair price. #2.3 Two methods to predict stock price. #2.4 Future PE-EPS method. #1 Step: Estimate future PE. #2 Step: Estimate future EPS.
Why do stocks go down after good earnings?
Main reasons why stocks go down after good earnings. First, the company might have a history of beating the estimates. The beat might be relatively smaller, which would disappoint investors. Second, investors usually believe in the adage “buy the rumor, sell the news,” which means investors buy the stock on rumor or expectations and sell when ...
What are some examples of external factors that affect stock prices?
Also, there could be many external factors influencing the stock price like big macroeconomic news . There could be news about U.S. employment numbers, interest rates, or a policy decision by the government. For example, the so-called stay-at-home stocks fell after the COVID-19 vaccine news. Finally, the sell-off effect gets exacerbated because investors copy what everyone else is doing.
Why should investors look at the big picture before selling shares?
Sequentially, there could be a lot of noise and lumpiness in a company’s earnings.
What does management do during earnings call?
During the earnings call, management usually provides the outlook for the company and the industry. Investors and analysts have a lot of news to digest. A good earnings report doesn't always result in a stock price increase. Why do stocks go down after good earnings?
What constitutes a good earnings report?
What constitutes a good earnings report? Any earnings that beat market expectations are seen as good earnings. If a company beats analysts’ expectations, it's seen as a positive sign for the company's overall prospects. In contrast, an earnings miss can cause the stock to fall. However, it doesn’t always work that linearly. There could be many reasons why stock prices fall even if the company's earnings were good.
How often do companies report earnings?
The SEC requires all publicly traded companies to report earnings four times a year. A company's earnings event is big news for investors. Most companies report their earnings and provide updates to their forward guidance.
Should investors look at the company's long-term prospects?
Investors should look at the company's long-term prospects and ignore short-term fluctuations and noise. If certain news has a material impact on the company’s long-term prospects, investors should pay attention and not think about the rest. Advertisement.
Why do stocks fall after earnings?
The short answer to this comes down to the future expectations of analysts and investors, along with supply and demand. These two factors therefore drive much of a company's stock price movement after earnings are released.
Why does the stock price fall after earnings beat?
As a result, EPS is artificially driven higher, which can lead to a somewhat misleading earnings report. This, in turn, can cause the stock price to fall after an earnings beat, especially in cases where investors believe the current stock price is overvalued, among other scenarios.
Why does the stock price fall after 52 weeks?
This is simply because the stock price may be at an all-time or 52-week high, or simply because investors don't expect it to go any higher in the short-term. In short, this can cause mass amounts of selling, driving the stock price down because investors want to secure their unrealized gains.
How to think about a company's quarterly earnings?
With everything considered, the best way to think about a company's future quarterly earnings report and stock price is to view the analyst estimates, and to then do your best to gauge the overall market sentiment. Doing so will provide you with a better understanding of what the expectations are for the future.
What happens if a company fails to meet analyst estimates?
On the other hand, if a company fails to meet analyst estimates, a drop in the stock price usually follows.
What is the metric for EPS?
Metric #2: Earnings per Share (EPS) Earnings per share (EPS) translates to the actual profits the company keeps. A higher EPS number means a company is more profitable, has the potential to grow faster, and can likely pay out more to its shareholders through earnings increase and/or dividends.
When investors, for whatever reason, expect a company's earnings to beat all analyst estimates by a significant margin?
When investors, for whatever reason, expect a company's earnings to beat all analyst estimates by a significant margin, this can cause a massive amount of buying up until the earnings report is released . This is called "buy the rumor, sell the news" and it's pretty easy to identify.
Why shouldn't stock prices move?
When the event news comes out, a stock shouldn't move much, because the news has already been anticipated by the market.
What force has a greater impact on stock prices than any other?
One force has a greater impact on stock prices than any other: Earnings estimate revisions. Understanding this force can help you pick which stocks are on the verge of upward moves with uncanny precision.
What happens when premium sellers sell stock?
When earnings come out, premium sellers will manipulate the stock lower, so the call buyers don't make money. They can achieve this by aggressively selling the stock down, knowing the lower it goes, the more money they will make.
What is liquidity in stocks?
Liquidity is measured by the number of buyers and sellers in relation to the stability of an asset's price. If a stock can easily be bought or sold without moving the price, it is known as "liquid". If a stock move is volatile and sees a large percentage move with a small amount of trades, it is known as "illiquid".
What happens when a company has a good earnings report?
When a company has a good earnings report, buyers show up in the stock and a position can be unwound. When the new buyers run into selling from large funds, they are quickly out of the money and take losers as the stock continues lower.
How does high frequency trading work?
The three factors I talked about above are all enhanced by High Frequency Trading. They use high speed computer algorithms to push stocks down to irrational levels by shorting stocks. When they recognize the selling has dried up, they cover their short position and then buy the stock at a lower price to profit when it bounces back.
Why do hedge funds need to exit stocks?
Big hedge funds and money managers need to enter and exit stocks carefully because of liquidity issues caused by computer driven trading. Because they have a great number of shares, they can influence the movement of a stock easily when they buy and sell. av-override. ‒‒:‒‒.
Why does my stock price drop?
There are five major reasons why a share price may unexpectedly decline : 1. Major Shareholder Selling. Some institutional shareholders set a target to sell their stock at a given price or if a certain event transpires.
Why do stocks fall after earnings?
Sometimes, there is a fundamental reason for a stock to fall after earnings are announced. For example, perhaps the company's gross margins have fallen dramatically from last quarter, or maybe its cash position has dwindled dramatically. The company may also be spending too much money on selling, general and administrative expenses (SGA) to pay for a new product launch.
What to look for in a year over year decline in cash balance?
Look specifically for any (sequential and/or year-over-year) changes in gross margins and operating margins. Also, look for both sequential and year-over-year declines in cash balances. And don't forget to look for large one-time additions or subtractions from net income that could impact the way investors think. In the end, try to review what the analyst community and the media is saying immediately after the earnings are released, as their analysis of the situation may actually highlight an area of concern that you have overlooked.
Why should investors carefully review earnings announcements?
Investors should carefully review earnings announcements to try to determine not only if the company beat earnings estimates, but also how it beat them. Determining the company's financial standing is of the utmost importance, as any shortcomings are bound to be reflected in the share price sooner or later.
How many shares do mutual funds sell?
For example, while individual investors typically make trades in the hundreds or low thousands of shares, institutions such as mutual funds often sell stocks in the tens of thousands of shares – or, even in rapid fire, in low volumes of 3,000 or 4,000 shares.
When do sell side analysts put out negative research notes?
Sometimes a sell-side analyst will put out a (negative) research note on the company either just before or just after earnings are released . This report (even if it is only slightly negative in nature) can affect the way that firm's clients think, especially those that are more short-term oriented.
When a company beats Wall Street's earnings estimates for a given quarter, its stock price should rise?
When a company beats Wall Street's earnings estimates for a given quarter, its stock price should rise, according to conventional wisdom . But that's not always the case. In many instances, a stock's share price declines after better-than-expected earnings are reported. 1
Why do stocks fall with good news?
You've likely heard the adage, "buy the rumor, sell the news," which is the tendency for traders to push up a stock's price on rumors or expectations and then sell once that news has been released, even if the news is positive. This phenomenon can be one of many reasons why a stock might fall with good news and is often seen with stocks releasing earnings reports .
Why do stocks fall across the board?
Macroeconomic factors like rising interest rates or a market shift to lower risk investments could potentially cause stocks to fall across the board and specifically result in stock losses for a single stock despite good news. Sector influences can also be important to consider.
What is the model of a stock?
As a science, the modeling of a stock’s price is based heavily on the estimated expectations and actual results investors and analysts have for the firm's earnings and cash flows, both now and in the future. When a company releases an earnings report, a fundamental reaction is often the most common. As such, good earnings that miss expectations can result in a downgrade of value. If a firm issues an earnings report that does not meet Street expectations, the stock's price will usually drop. 2
Why does XYZ sell off after good news?
Noise traders do not analyze the fundamentals of a prospective investment, but instead make trades based on news, technical analysis indicators, or trends. They are often thought of as impulsive and may overreact to good or bad news. So, if XYZ Corp. begins to sell off after a positive earnings report, as described above, noise traders may jump aboard, exacerbating the down move.
Why do companies give future guidance?
With each earnings report , companies usually also provide some future guidance. Future guidance is also a big factor for fundamental valuations. Future guidance provides investors and analysts with management’s insight on the projected future growth as well as any new developments that may affect the fundamentals. A company may release results that match or exceed the market’s expectations but with that they may also include revisions to future estimates that can be a valuation detractor. Any downward revisions to future sales, earnings, cash flow, and more could lead to concerns over the stock’s future value. Downward revisions or developments that decrease future value expectations can be a fundamental reason why a stock might fall alongside good news.
What happens when a company releases an earnings report?
As such, good earnings that miss expectations can result in a downgrade of value. If a firm issues an earnings report that does not meet Street expectations, the stock's price will usually drop. 2 . Other situations may also occur around earnings.
How often do companies report earnings?
Earnings Reports. Publicly-traded companies are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to publicly report earnings results quarterly, four times a year. 1 While this provides a great deal of transparency it can also lead to a build up of rumors as there is a three-month gap between each release.
Why does forward guidance affect stock prices?
Once again, this is because it deals with the future rather than the past . Nobody is better placed to assess the prospects for a business than its executives, so if they issue an assessment of the next few months’ or years’ prospects that disappoint the market, the reaction is usually swift and sharp.
What are some examples of metrics that prompt selling?
For example, when an oil company reports disappointing production from individual wells or less land for future drilling than expected those things will override historical results. Or, in the case of a retailer, declining same store sales will have the same impact .
Does an increase in users always translate to an increase in revenue?
An increase in users doesn’t always translate to an increase in revenue or profits immediately, but it does increase the base of potential revenue sources. Slower than expected growth in metrics such as Monthly Active Users (MAUs) can therefore hit a stock in the industry hard, even if sales and profits look good.
Does an increase in profits mean a company is growing?
An increase in profits does not necessarily mean that a company is growing . Margins can be increased by reducing costs -- either in terms of staff or investments in their business. If that is done as sales or other revenues are decreasing, it doesn’t bode well for the future, and the future has a large influence on stock prices. Traders essentially bet on where a stock will be tomorrow, next week or next year. A company who is making more money by cutting back rather than by growing is not an attractive investment and the stock will drop.
Can revenue miss EPS beat?
A revenue miss, even in the context of an EPS beat can therefore result in a sharp drop, but sometimes, even when the report beats expectations in terms of both profit and revenue, there can still be a decline. That is frustrating and puzzling to many investors, but there are other things to consider.

Introduction to Earnings Reports
Earnings Reports and Stock Prices
- To understand how an earnings report affects a company's stock price, it's important that we look at five important performance metrics (among others) that consist of an earnings report. These metrics essentially define how a company performed since its last quarter. You can view earnings reports for any publicly traded company the second they are released to the public through PR N…
7 Reasons For Stock Prices to Fall After Earnings Beatings
- Now, even if companies surpass analyst expectations for all five of the metrics covered in the previous section, there is no guarantee that the stock price will not drop after earnings are released! So, in this section, I will provide seven different reasons for why this may be the case.
The Bottom Line
- With everything considered, the best way to think about a company's future quarterly earnings report and stock price is to view the analyst estimates (focus on revenue, EPS, and guidance), and to then do your best to gauge the overall market sentiment. Doing so will provide you with a better understanding of what the expectations are for the future. In short, there are many factors that c…