Glossary
SEC filings explained (10-K vs 10-Q vs 8-K)
SEC filings are the disclosures public companies and large investors must submit to the Securities and Exchange Commission, where they become public and free to read on a system called EDGAR. The three most common company reports are the 10-K, the annual report with audited financials and a full business review; the 10-Q, a lighter quarterly update; and the 8-K, filed on demand to disclose a material event like an acquisition, an executive change, or earnings. Other filings cover ownership: 13F for institutional holdings, Form 4 for insider trades, and 13D/13G for large stakes. Together they are the primary-source record of what a company and its owners are doing.
By The Brief Equity Team · Published
10-K vs 10-Q vs 8-K at a glance
| Filing | When it's filed | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 10-K | Once a year | Audited annual results, full business, risks, and management discussion |
| 10-Q | Each of the first three quarters | Unaudited quarterly financials and a shorter update |
| 8-K | Within days of a material event | One specific development: a deal, a resignation, earnings, a big change |
Think of them as annual, quarterly, and breaking news. The 10-K is the once-a-year document you would read to understand a business from scratch. The 10-Q keeps you current between annual reports. The 8-K fills the gaps: when something material happens that cannot wait for the next scheduled report, the company files an 8-K to disclose it.
What each report actually contains
- 10-K: audited financial statements, a detailed business description, risk factors, and management's discussion and analysis (MD&A) of the results.
- 10-Q: unaudited financials for the quarter, condensed disclosures, and a shorter MD&A, filed three times a year (the fourth quarter is folded into the 10-K).
- 8-K: a single triggering event, filed on a tight deadline, covering things like acquisitions, executive departures, earnings releases, or bankruptcy.
The 10-K is where the real detail lives. Its risk-factors section and MD&A often tell you more than the raw numbers, because that is where management explains what drove the results and what could go wrong. The 10-Q is the same shape, lighter and unaudited. The 8-K is narrow by design: one event, disclosed fast.
Beyond the big three: ownership filings
| Filing | Who files it | What it discloses |
|---|---|---|
| 13F | Institutions over $100M | Their long US stock holdings, each quarter |
| Form 4 | Company insiders | Their own trades in the company's stock, within days |
| 13D / 13G | Holders crossing a 5% stake | A large position, and whether the intent is active or passive |
Company reports tell you about the business; ownership filings tell you who owns it and what they are doing. A 13F lists an institution's holdings each quarter, a Form 4 catches insider trades within days, and a 13D or 13G fires when someone crosses a large stake. Each has its own guide.
Where to read SEC filings
Every one of these filings is public and free on EDGAR, the SEC's official database. EDGAR is authoritative and complete, but it lists filings one at a time, per company, with no feed across the names you follow. That is the gap research tools fill by pulling filings together for a set of tickers.
Start at EDGAR when you want the source of record for one company: type the name, and every filing it has ever made is there. When you are tracking many companies, a feed that gathers their filings, as Brief Equity does for the tickers on your watchlists, saves the per-company lookups. Either way, the filings themselves are free.
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Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between a 10-K and a 10-Q?
- The 10-K is the annual report: audited, comprehensive, filed once a year. The 10-Q is a lighter, unaudited quarterly update, filed for the first three quarters. The fourth quarter is rolled into the annual 10-K.
- What is an 8-K?
- An 8-K is a filing that discloses a single material event outside the normal reporting schedule, such as an acquisition, an executive departure, a bankruptcy, or an earnings release. Companies file it within days of the event.
- What is a 10-K?
- A 10-K is a public company's annual report to the SEC. It includes audited financial statements, a full description of the business, risk factors, and management's discussion of the results. It is the most detailed regular filing a company makes.
- Where can I read SEC filings for free?
- On EDGAR, the SEC's official database. Every 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, 13F, and Form 4 is there, free. EDGAR lists them one company at a time; research tools aggregate them across the tickers you follow.
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