Every company listed on NSE or BSE must publish its financial results each quarter. In India the financial year runs from April to March, so the four quarters are April–June (Q1), July–September (Q2), October–December (Q3) and January–March (Q4). Results usually arrive within a few weeks of the quarter's end, with Q4 also carrying the full-year accounts; check the current deadlines in the exchange rules. Results days are some of the biggest single-day moves a stock makes, so knowing how to read the numbers quickly is useful for investors and traders alike.
Where to find the results
Companies file results with the exchanges, usually as a PDF, and often add an investor presentation and later hold an earnings call with analysts. The filing has two versions:
- Standalone: only the listed company itself.
- Consolidated: the company plus its subsidiaries. For groups with large subsidiaries this is the version to read, because it shows the whole business.
The board meeting date is announced in advance, and many results come out during or after market hours (15:30 onwards), so the reaction often shows up as a gap at the next day's 09:15 open.
The lines that matter, in order
- Revenue from operations (sales): money from the core business. "Other income" (interest, dividends, one-time gains) is shown separately and should not be confused with it.
- Expenses: raw materials, employee costs, other costs.
- EBITDA: earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. It is revenue minus operating costs, a measure of how much the core business earns before financing and accounting charges. Companies rarely print it as a line; you can work it out or take it from the presentation.
- Depreciation: the cost of machines and buildings spread over their life.
- Finance costs: interest on borrowings.
- Exceptional items: one-offs such as a plant closure, a legal settlement or a gain on selling a business.
- Tax, then net profit (PAT), and EPS (net profit per share).
Margins: the quality of growth
Margins show how much of each ₹100 of sales turns into profit.
EBITDA margin = EBITDA ÷ revenue × 100; net margin = net profit ÷ revenue × 100
Revenue growing 15% with margins steady is healthy. Revenue growing 15% while EBITDA margin falls from 20% to 16% means costs are rising faster than prices: the company is selling more but keeping less. Raw material prices (steel, crude oil, palm oil), wage increases and price cuts to fight competition are common reasons margins move.
A worked example
Imagine a consumer company reports Q2 results (₹ crore):
| Line | Q2 this year | Q1 this year | Q2 last year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 5,750 | 5,400 | 5,000 |
| EBITDA | 1,035 | 1,026 | 1,000 |
| EBITDA margin | 18.0% | 19.0% | 20.0% |
| Exceptional gain | 150 | 0 | 0 |
| Net profit | 780 | 640 | 620 |
- YoY (year on year, against Q2 last year): revenue +15%, net profit +26%. The headline looks excellent.
- QoQ (quarter on quarter, against Q1): revenue +6.5%.
- But the margin has slipped two quarters in a row, and ₹150 crore of profit is a one-off. Without it, profit is about ₹630 crore (ignoring the tax on the gain), up only about 2% YoY.
So the honest summary is: sales grew well, the core profit barely grew, and margins are under pressure. That is a very different story from "profit up 26%".
YoY is usually the fairer comparison, because many businesses are seasonal: an air-conditioner maker always sells more in April–June, a jeweller more around festivals. QoQ is useful to see the latest direction.
Why a stock can fall on "good" results
Before results, analysts publish estimates and the market builds an expectation into the price. The reaction depends on how the numbers compare with that, and on what management says about the coming quarters (the guidance or outlook). A 20% profit rise against an expected 30% is a disappointment. A loss smaller than feared can lift the stock.
The options market also prices in a move before the announcement. The straddle on the stock gets expensive in the days before results, then loses value sharply afterwards, the IV crush. The results expected vs actual move guide shows how to compare the move options priced with what really happened.
Live example: the stock behind the numbers
Results change the fundamentals once a quarter; the price reacts every minute. Here is a live box for Infosys, one of the first large companies to report each quarter:
After a results day, watch whether the price holds above or below its 50-day average and where the RSI sits: a sharp gap that keeps going for several days tells you the market is rethinking the business, while a gap that fills quickly suggests the surprise was small. The results moves page lists recent results-day moves across stocks.
Reading the earnings call and presentation
The numbers tell you what happened; management's commentary hints at what comes next, and that often moves the stock more than the quarter itself. In the investor presentation and the call, listen for:
- Demand: are orders, enquiries or volumes rising or slowing? Rural or urban, domestic or export?
- Pricing: has the company raised prices, or is it cutting them to keep share?
- Costs: what does management expect for raw materials, wages and interest?
- Order book: for engineering and defence companies, the value of contracts won but not yet delivered shows future revenue.
- Capex plans: new plants mean growth later, but also spending and perhaps borrowing now.
- Changes in tone: words like "challenging" or "softness" where last quarter said "strong" are worth noting.
Compare what management said a year ago with what has actually happened. Companies whose guidance proves reliable over time are easier to judge than those that miss their own targets again and again.
A five-minute results checklist
- Revenue growth YoY: is the business growing?
- EBITDA margin vs last year and last quarter: is it keeping its profitability?
- Exceptional items and other income: how much of the profit is core?
- Finance costs: are they rising quickly (more borrowing)?
- Segment results: which part of the business drove the change?
- Management commentary: what is said about demand, prices and costs ahead?
For banks, read different lines: net interest income (interest earned minus interest paid), net interest margin, loan growth, and bad loans (gross and net NPA, non-performing assets).
Common mistakes
- Reading only the headline profit. One-offs and other income can hide a weak quarter or flatter a strong one.
- Comparing standalone with consolidated. Stick to the same version across periods.
- Ignoring the share count. If the company issued many new shares, profit can grow while EPS does not.
- Trading the headline in the first minute. Early moves on results days are fast and often reverse; spreads widen and option prices swing.
- Forgetting cash. Profit without matching operating cash flow is a warning; see the cash flow guide.
This guide is for education only and is not advice to trade around any company's results.