Tuesday, April 2, 2024

First quarter 2024 is now officially done, and as we all wait with baited breath for Q1 earnings reports to arrive in another two weeks or so, Calcbench wanted to take one final look at the Q4 2023 earnings numbers filed over the previous three months. 


We track these earnings using our Earnings Tracker template, which pulls in financial disclosures as companies file their latest earnings releases with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Earnings Tracker provides an up-to-the minute snapshot of financial performance compared to the year-earlier period.


Figure 1, below, tells the tale. It shows total data for more than 3,500 non-financial companies that have filed Q4 earnings as of April 2. 



Figure 2, below, is that same data converted into bar charts for easy visualization.



So we have revenue up 1.46 percent from the year-earlier period, and net income up an impressive 22.6 percent. Moreover, cost of goods sold is actually lower than the year-earlier period by 1.88 percent. We first noticed this trend in February, when our Earnings Tracker had cost of goods sold down by 0.65 percent. Collective costs have only gone down since then. 


Macro-economic analysts can have a small field day with this information. For example, some critics might say the sharp increase in revenue amid relatively flat revenue and cost of goods sold supports the theory of “greedflation” pinching consumers. Others might notice the flat levels of inventory growth, which could suggest that recession is still unlikely. 


Calcbench is not here to make prognostications of our own. Our point is simply that Calcbench has the data to help you perform your own analysis as quickly as possible, with the latest data around — and in-depth research is worth doing, because sometimes the niche story isn’t the same as the overall story. 


We will, of course, rev up our Earnings Tracker in another few weeks as Q1 earnings reports start arriving. If Calcbench subscribers wish to get their hands on the template we use for this analysis, so you can conduct your own experiments at home, use this link to the file. 


Please note that it will only work with an active Calcbench subscription. If you need an active subscription (and who doesn’t, really, when swift access to real-time data is so important?), contact us at info@calcbench.com. 
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