Guidance
Definition · Level 9 · Valuation
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Management’s own forecast for coming periods (revenue, EPS, margins, capex). A raise or cut often moves the stock more than the quarter just reported.
Example
“They took the full-year guide to $5.20–5.40 from $5.60–5.80.”
Where Tradecraft teaches it
Level 9 · Valuation, in the lesson “Earnings season language”: Consensus, beats and misses, guidance, whispers, filings and adjusted numbers.
Related terms
- 10-K / 10-Q / 8-KSEC filings: the audited annual report, the unaudited quarterly report, and the current report for material events such as earnings releases, deals…
- Beat / missReporting results above / below analysts’ expectations; quoted separately for revenue and EPS, often with the size of the surprise.
- ConsensusThe average or median of sell-side analysts’ published estimates — the bar a reported quarter is judged against.
- Earnings seasonThe roughly six-week stretch after each quarter ends when most listed companies report results.
- Margin expansion / compressionA rise or fall in profit as a share of revenue (gross, operating or net), usually quoted in basis points year over year.
- Non-GAAP“Adjusted” figures that strip out items such as stock comp, acquired-intangible amortization or restructuring, reconciled to the rule-based numbers.