A Form 10-K is the annual report a US public company has to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A Form 10-K is the annual report a US public company has to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
It is not the glossy booklet with the photographs. That one is written by the marketing team. The 10-K is written by the finance team and the lawyers. Executives sign it. An auditor signs the statements inside it. Getting it wrong is a federal matter.
That's why it's worth your time. Everything else a company publishes is a choice. This is an obligation.
Three things are always true of a 10-K. It covers one fiscal year. It contains audited financial statements. It is filed with the SEC and public the moment it lands.
Apple's most recent full year at the time this class was written.
Read the two dates together. Apple's year ended on September 30 and the document landed on November 3. Thirty-four days. That's the gap you should expect from a company this size.
Inside, the form has a fixed shape. Part I holds Item 1 Business. Item 1A Risk factors. Item 1B Unresolved staff comments. Item 1C Cybersecurity. Item 2 Properties. Item 3 Legal proceedings. Item 4 Mine safety disclosures.
Part II holds Item 5 Market for the stock. Item 6 Reserved. Item 7 Management's discussion and analysis. Item 7A Market risk. Item 8 Financial statements. Item 9 and its lettered siblings on controls and procedures.
Every 10-K from every company uses those same numbers. Learn the numbers once and you can read any company.
The trap is assuming fiscal 2023 means calendar 2023.
Apple's fiscal 2023 ended September 30 2023. Costco's fiscal 2023 ended September 3 2023. Most companies end in December. Some retailers end in January. A fiscal year is whatever twelve months the company declared.
So two companies can both say 2023 and be describing periods that barely overlap. Before you compare anything check the year end on the cover. It's printed there in a single line.
The second trap is smaller and more common. People quote the press release that came out weeks before the 10-K. The release is a summary the company chose. The 10-K is the version it signed.
Your manager is meeting Apple next week and asks you for the last full year of sales and where the figure came from.
Which document do you go to?
The Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30 2023. Filed November 3 2023.
What is the figure?
Total net sales of $383,285 million. About $383 billion.
Your manager asks whether that covers calendar 2023.
No. It covers the twelve months to September 30 2023. Roughly the last quarter of calendar 2022 plus the first three quarters of calendar 2023.
Your manager says a news article gave a different number. What do you say?
The 10-K is the figure the company signed and the auditor checked. Use it and ask what period the article was describing.
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