BMO / AMC (Before Market Open / After Market Close)
BMO (Before Market Open) means a company reports earnings before the U.S. market opens; AMC (After Market Close) means it reports after the close. The timing determines which trading day the stock reacts on.
How to read it
For a company reporting before the open, the results are reflected as soon as trading starts that day. For one reporting after the close, the first reaction comes in that evening's after-hours trading, and the full reaction comes the next trading day.
So when calculating the first-day move after earnings, a BMO report compares that day's close with the prior day's close, while an AMC report compares the next trading day's close with that day's close.
The conference call typically starts about an hour after the press release goes out. Guidance details and management's tone often emerge only on the call, and the after-hours move can reverse as a result.
Common pitfalls
- Volume in pre-market and after-hours trading is thin, which exaggerates price swings. Those moves are not a reliable guide to how the stock will trade in the next regular session.
On FinDog
Both the Earnings Calendar and the Earnings Season page mark whether each company reports before the open or after the close. The "day after earnings" move on each stock page is calculated using the rule above.
See the Earnings Calendar →Related terms
- Earnings SeasonEarnings season is the stretch of weeks when public companies report their quarterly results in quick succession. In the U.S. it happens four times a year, kicking off around the middle of January, April, July and October and running for four to six weeks.
- Form 8-KForm 8-K is the current report a public company files with the SEC when a material event occurs, and it must be filed within four business days of the event. Quarterly earnings press releases are published as exhibits to an 8-K.