Earnings calendar, ex-dividend dates and insider trades on Finabase

Some of the biggest single-day moves in a stock come on scheduled dates: quarterly earnings reports, and to a lesser degree the ex-dividend date when the dividend is deducted from the price. Others are signalled in public filings, such as the Form 4 an officer files after buying or selling shares. finabase.io has a page for each: an earnings calendar, a dividend calendar and an insider trading tracker, all free and live.

This guide shows how to read each one and how they connect to the symbol page.

The earnings calendar

Open Markets › Earnings. Along the top is a row of day chips — "4 days ago", "Yesterday", "Today", "in 3 days" — each with the date and the number of reports. Click a day to list its reports, largest companies first, with symbol, name, sector, last price and today's change. Use the Reporting date picker and Show reports to jump to a specific date.

The calendar covers US companies reporting from the past five days to the next twenty. For a single company, the symbol page's Next earnings card and Earnings tab show the expected date, the consensus EPS estimate and the history of reported EPS and surprise.

Reports land before the open or after the close, so the reaction often shows first in extended-hours trading. See How earnings season works: calendar, estimates and the reaction and Earnings surprises and guidance: beats, misses and price moves.

The dividend calendar

Markets › Dividends lists upcoming ex-dividend dates — the first day a buyer no longer receives the next payment — for US stocks and ETFs, from the past week to about five weeks ahead. Day chips show how many ex-dates fall on each day; each row gives the dividend amount, the record and payment dates, the payment frequency and the indicated yield. A symbol's Dividends & splits tab has its full payment and split history.

The ex-dividend date matters more than the pay date: to receive a dividend you must own the stock before it. The price usually drops by about the dividend amount at that open. See ex-dividend date and Dividends and DRIPs: key dates, yield and reinvestment.

Insider trading

Research › Insider trading summarises the Form 4 filings that company officers, directors and 10% owners must send the SEC after trading their company's shares.

• Totals for the period — insider purchases and sales in dollars, the buy/sell ratio (dollars bought per dollar sold), and cluster buys (symbols bought by two or more insiders).
• Cluster buys, Largest insider buying and Largest insider selling boards, each with the amount, the number of insiders or trades, and today's change.
• The full transactions list, filtered by Type (Buys & sales, Buys, Sales, Option exercises, All), Period (7, 14 or 30 days; 14 by default), Min value (Any, $100K, $1M, $10M) and Sort (Newest or Largest). Each row links to the filing on SEC.gov.
• A Symbol box and Filter narrow the page to one company.

Open-market purchases are the trades most watched, because insiders sell for many reasons (taxes, diversification, planned sales) but usually buy for one. Even so, insider buying is one input among many. See Insider trading filings: Forms 3, 4 and 5 and how to read them and Form 4.

Frequently asked questions

Are earnings dates confirmed?

Dates come from company announcements and estimates. A date the company has not yet confirmed can move; check the company's investor-relations page close to the day.

Can I get an alert before a company reports?

Not as a date alert today. Add the stock to a watchlist and set a price or percent-move alert to catch the reaction (Set price, percent and indicator alerts on finabase.io).

How current is the insider data?

Form 4s must be filed within two business days of the trade; the page reflects filings as they are published.

Do I need an account?

No. All three pages are free and open.

Summary

Check Earnings for who reports and when, Dividends for upcoming ex-dates, and Insider trading for who is buying and selling their own shares. Click through to a symbol's tabs for the history behind each. On iPhone, see Earnings calendar and upcoming events in Stock Master.