How to read quarterly results, line by line

What are quarterly results?

Quarterly results are a listed company's report of its income, expenses and profit for a three-month period. They are one of the main ways the public learns how the business actually did.

India's financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March. It is split into four quarters: April to June, July to September, October to December and January to March. People often call them Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4, and add the year, such as "Q2 FY27" for July to September 2026.

A listed company has a duty to keep the public informed. Publishing results at fixed intervals is a big part of that duty. If you are new to listing and exchanges, start with stock market basics and come back here.

Where do Indian companies publish their results?

Listed companies file their results with the stock exchanges, NSE and BSE, and the exchanges put them on their websites for anyone to read for free. Most companies also post them on their own website.

SEBI's listing rules, called the LODR Regulations (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements), set the deadlines. In general, results for the first three quarters are due within 45 days of the end of the quarter. Results for the last quarter come with the yearly audited results, which are due within 60 days of the end of the financial year. There are special cases, such as newly listed companies, so read the current rule on the SEBI website if you need the exact detail.

To find a company's results on the NSE website or the BSE website, search for the company name and look for the section on financial results or corporate filings. You will usually see a PDF filed by the company.

Standalone vs consolidated: which one do I read?

Standalone results show only the parent company. Consolidated results add up the parent and the companies it controls, called subsidiaries. If a company has subsidiaries, the consolidated figures usually give the fuller picture of the whole group, and SEBI's listing rules require a listed company with subsidiaries to file consolidated results as well as standalone ones.

Imagine ABC Limited runs its mobile network itself, but it also owns a separate company, ABC Towers Private Limited, which builds and rents out phone towers. ABC Limited's standalone results show only the mobile business. The consolidated results add ABC Towers too, after removing deals between the two, so that the same rupee is not counted twice.

The two sets can tell very different stories. The habit to build is simple: check which set you are reading, and compare like with like. Do not compare one company's standalone numbers with another company's consolidated numbers.

The main lines in a results statement

A results statement starts with the money that came in, subtracts the costs of running the business, then interest, depreciation and tax, and ends with net profit and earnings per share (EPS).

Here is what each common line means, in plain words:

Revenue from operations

Money earned from the company's main business, such as ABC's mobile plans and data packs. This is the first line most people look at. Some people call it "sales".

Other income

Money from outside the main business, such as interest on the company's bank deposits.

Expenses

The costs of running the business: staff salaries, network running costs, marketing, rent and so on.

EBITDA

Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation. It shows what the main business earns before loan interest, wear and tear on assets, and tax. Companies do not all calculate it the same way, so read how each one defines it.

Depreciation and amortisation

The cost of equipment and other long-life assets, spread over the years they are used. ABC's towers wear out slowly, so their cost is spread out.

Finance costs

Interest the company pays on its loans.

Profit before tax (PBT)

What is left after all costs except tax.

Net profit

Profit after tax. This is sometimes called the "bottom line" because it sits at the end of the statement.

EPS

Earnings per share: net profit divided by the number of shares. It tells you how much profit belongs to each single share.

Worked example: ABC Limited's quarterly results

Here is a full, made-up consolidated results table for ABC Limited, in Rs crore. Read it from the first line down, and check each subtraction yourself.

ABC Limited is a fictional company. Assume it has 50 crore shares. The three columns are the quarter just reported (July to September), the quarter before it (April to June) and the same quarter one year earlier.

Now read the latest quarter line by line:

1. Revenue from operations, Rs 1,200 crore. ABC earned this from its mobile business in three months.
2. Operating expenses, Rs 800 crore. Salaries, network running costs, marketing and other running costs. In this example they exclude depreciation and interest.
3. EBITDA, Rs 400 crore. 1,200 minus 800 is 400. As a share of revenue: 400 divided by 1,200 is about 33.3%. This is called the EBITDA margin. A year ago it was 300 divided by 1,000, which is 30%.
4. Profit before tax, Rs 200 crore. Start at 400, add other income of 20 (420), take away depreciation of 120 (300), finance costs of 60 (240) and the one-off loss of 40. That leaves 200.
5. Net profit, Rs 150 crore. 200 minus tax of 50 is 150.
6. EPS, Rs 3.00. Net profit of Rs 150 crore divided by 50 crore shares is Rs 3.00 per share.

Quarter-on-quarter vs year-on-year

Quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) compares a quarter with the one just before it. Year-on-year (YoY) compares it with the same quarter a year earlier. YoY is often more useful, because many businesses have seasons that repeat every year.

The formula is the same for both: (new number minus old number) divided by old number, times 100.

• Revenue YoY: (1,200 minus 1,000) divided by 1,000 is 0.20, so revenue grew 20%.
• Revenue QoQ: (1,200 minus 1,150) divided by 1,150 is about 0.043, so revenue grew about 4.3%.
• Net profit YoY: (150 minus 105) divided by 105 is about 0.429, so net profit grew about 42.9%.
• Net profit QoQ: (150 minus 163) divided by 163 is about minus 0.080, so net profit fell about 8.0%.

So the same results can be called "profit up 43%" or "profit down 8%". Both are true. Check which comparison a headline uses.

Why does season matter? If made-up XYZ Foods sells more snacks in festival months, its festival quarter will usually beat the one before it. Comparing with last year's festival quarter removes that calendar effect.

One-off items: why profit can mislead

A one-off item is a gain or loss that is not expected to repeat, such as selling a building or paying a single large penalty. It can push profit up or down for one quarter without telling you much about the regular business.

Companies usually show these as "exceptional items" in a separate line, with a note explaining them. In ABC's case, the Rs 40 crore loss was, say, the cost of shutting an old network system. That is why net profit fell QoQ even though revenue and EBITDA both rose.

Here is a simple check. Add the one-off loss back to profit before tax: 200 plus 40 is 240. That is higher than the previous quarter's 218. So the regular business did not shrink. This is a rough check, because the tax on that item can change too, and the company's own notes give the precise picture.

One-off gains need the same care. A land sale can lift EPS for one quarter only. The notes to the results show this.

Common mix-ups

Beginners often mix up revenue with profit, standalone with consolidated figures, and QoQ with YoY. Each mix-up can change how good or bad a quarter looks.

1. "Revenue grew, so the company made more money." Not always. Revenue is money in. If costs grew faster, profit can still fall.
2. "Net profit is the cash the company has." No. Profit is an accounting result. Cash in the bank can be very different, for example when customers have not paid yet.
3. "Good results mean the share price will rise." No. Prices move on what people expected compared with what came out, and on much else besides. Results can be strong and the price can still fall. See why in why share prices change.
4. "EPS fell, so the business is in trouble." Check for one-off items and for changes in the number of shares first. A bonus issue or a split, for example, increases the share count, so EPS per share falls even if total profit is unchanged. Our lesson on dividends, bonus issues and splits explains why.

Check yourself

Three quick questions on ABC Limited's table. Try each one before you read the answer below it.

1. What was ABC's EBITDA margin in the same quarter last year?
   Answer: EBITDA of 300 divided by revenue of 1,000 is 30%.
2. By what percentage did ABC's EPS grow year-on-year?
   Answer: (3.00 minus 2.10) divided by 2.10 is about 0.429, so about 42.9%. It matches net profit growth here because the share count did not change.
3. Without the one-off loss, what would profit before tax have been this quarter?
   Answer: 200 plus 40, which is Rs 240 crore.

Where to check this yourself

Read real filings only from the stock exchanges and the regulator. These are the primary sources.

• NSE website: search a company and open its financial results filings.
• BSE website: the same filings, listed under the company's corporate announcements and results.
• SEBI website: the LODR Regulations, which set what listed companies must disclose and when.
• SEBI investor website: free investor education material from the regulator.

Once you can read a results table, the next step is to relate profit to the share price. That is what the P/E ratio explained covers.