Why do earnings matter?

An earnings report gives investors the opportunity to assess a company's alpha-generating potential. Some of the critical questions that earnings can answer are:
1. Is the company growing fast enough?
2. How profitable is it?
3. Which are the best-performing segments?
4. And ultimately, is the company poised for long-term success?

Based on this information, an investor may decide to hold the stock long-term or to sell as soon as possible.

In this article, we will address important fundamentals surrounding earnings forecasts, including:
1. The interaction between earnings and share price;
2. How a company can 'beat' or 'miss' earnings, and;
3. The role of Similarweb's alternative data in providing valuable earnings forecast insights.