How to read a company's quarterly results in 15 minutes

The short answer: Open the company's results filing, find the consolidated numbers, and compare this quarter with the same quarter last year. Then check six lines: revenue, total expenses, other income, exceptional items, net profit and the notes. That takes about 15 minutes and tells you whether the business actually got better, or only the headline did.

October and November are results season in India. Companies are reporting the July to September quarter, and the news is full of lines like "profit jumps 40%" or "loss narrows". This guide shows you how to check those headlines yourself, using a real filing from last week as the example. It is about understanding a business, not a tip to buy or sell any share.

When do companies have to announce results?

The timing comes from SEBI's Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, usually called LODR. Regulation 33 says a listed company must file its quarterly results with the stock exchange "within forty-five days of end of each quarter, other than the last quarter", and its audited annual results within sixty days of the end of the financial year (SEBI's consolidated LODR text; the same deadlines are summarised by TaxGuru).

Here is what that means on the calendar for India's April to March financial year:

Many large companies report well before the deadline. IndiGo, for example, reported its July to September numbers on 29 October 2026.

The September quarter is worth extra attention. LODR requires half-year results to include a statement of assets and liabilities and a statement of cash flows. So the Q2 filing you are reading now shows the balance sheet and the cash position, not just profit and loss.

Where do you find the results?

Three free places:

• The stock exchanges. The NSE financial results page and the BSE results page list every filing. Search by company name and open the PDF.
• The company's investor relations page. Most big companies also post an investor presentation and a press release here. These are easier to read, but they are the company's own framing.
• The earnings call. Most large companies hold a call with analysts after results. LODR requires the audio recording on the company's website within 24 hours or before the next trading day, whichever is earlier, and the transcript within five working days.

Start with the exchange filing. Use the presentation and the call to understand why the numbers moved, not what the numbers are.

Standalone or consolidated: which numbers should you read?

Most filings carry two sets of numbers, and mixing them up is the most common mistake.

• Standalone covers only the listed company itself.
• Consolidated adds all its subsidiaries, so it shows the whole group.

Since April 2019, a listed company with subsidiaries "shall also submit quarterly/year-to-date consolidated financial results", according to the LODR text. Before that, consolidated quarterly results were optional.

For groups like Reliance, Tata Motors or any startup with overseas arms, the two sets can look very different. News reports normally quote consolidated figures. When you compare quarters, make sure you compare consolidated with consolidated.

Which six lines should you read first?

A results table has dozens of rows. These six do most of the work.

Two of these deserve a closer look.

Other income is money that does not come from the company's main business, such as interest on cash it holds. A company with a big cash pile can show rising profit even while its actual business stalls. If other income is a large share of profit, ask how much is left without it.

Exceptional items are one-offs. A company that sells a building can post a jump in profit that will not repeat next quarter. Motilal Oswal's checklist says to adjust for "extraordinary write offs or incomes" because they are not sustainable. Business Today gives the same warning about profit growth driven by "any one time gain".

Should you compare with last quarter or last year?

Mostly with the same quarter last year. This is called year on year, or YoY. Comparing with the previous quarter is called quarter on quarter, or QoQ.

Many businesses are seasonal. Airlines are weak in the monsoon. Retailers do well in the festive quarter. Comparing July to September with April to June mixes up the season with the business. Business Today notes that sectors "prone to seasonal or cyclical fluctuations should be compared YoY", and lists FMCG, retail, cement and auto among them. It treats technology and telecom as sectors where QoQ also tells you something. Motilal Oswal says the comparison "should be both ways".

A simple rule: use YoY to judge the trend, and QoQ to spot a sudden turn.

A worked example: IndiGo's "narrower loss"

On 29 October 2026, InterGlobe Aviation, which runs IndiGo, reported a consolidated net loss of ₹1,878.6 crore for July to September. A year earlier the loss was ₹2,581.7 crore. Many headlines said the loss had narrowed, and the share rose about 3% the next day, according to JM Financial. The loss and revenue figures match in Business Today and the Free Press Journal.

Now walk through the six lines.

1. Revenue rose 25.9% to ₹23,363.8 crore. Strong, on its face.
2. Expenses rose 18.6% to ₹26,188.4 crore, per Business Today. But one line stands out. Fuel cost rose 67.2% to ₹9,966.8 crore, according to the Free Press Journal and EconoTimes. That is roughly ₹4,000 crore more than a year earlier (our calculation), close to the whole increase in revenue.
3. The non-business line is foreign exchange. IndiGo pays for many aircraft leases in dollars, so a weaker rupee shows up as a loss. EconoTimes reports a net forex loss of about ₹1,333 crore this quarter, down from about ₹2,892 crore a year earlier.
4. Strip that out and the picture flips. Excluding forex, IndiGo lost about ₹724 crore, against a profit of about ₹104 crore a year earlier, EconoTimes reports. JM Financial points the same way: EBITDAR (operating profit before leases and depreciation) excluding forex fell to ₹3,615.3 crore from ₹3,800.3 crore.

So the headline loss narrowed mainly because last year's currency hit was bigger. The airline business itself went from a small profit to a loss. Neither reading is wrong. They answer different questions, and the filing gives you both. We followed the same results line by line in our story on how one bill explains IndiGo's loss.

What else is worth a minute?

If you have a few more minutes, these add a lot:

• The auditor's report. Under LODR, unaudited quarterly results must go through a "limited review" by the statutory auditor. That is lighter than a full audit. Read the last paragraph of the review report for any qualification or "emphasis of matter".
• Segment results. Companies with several businesses report revenue and profit for each. A group can look fine overall while one division bleeds.
• Cash flow, in the September and March filings. Profit can rise while cash falls. If operating cash flow is much weaker than profit, ask why.
• Management commentary. The press release and earnings call explain the drivers. Treat them as the company's view, and check them against the numbers.

Angel One's guide and Groww's guide are useful glossaries if a term like EPS or operating margin is new to you.

Why can a share fall after good results?

Because the price already reflects what investors expected. If analysts expected profit to rise 30% and it rose 20%, the share can fall on "good" results. Business Today makes the same point: a profit drop does not automatically push a share down. Our story on SpaceX's 92% revenue jump and falling stock shows this happening at scale.

That is the main reason not to treat one quarter as a verdict. Read four quarters in a row and the trend becomes clear.

A 15-minute routine you can reuse

1. Open the exchange filing and find the consolidated table (1 minute).
2. Compare revenue and total expenses with the same quarter last year (3 minutes).
3. Check other income and exceptional items, and work out profit without them (3 minutes).
4. Read the notes and the auditor's review paragraph (4 minutes).
5. Skim the press release or investor presentation for the company's explanation (4 minutes).

If you want to go deeper into a company before it lists, our guide on how to read an IPO prospectus uses a similar approach. And if you would rather follow the big results without reading every filing, see the best ways to follow Indian business news or how to stay informed in 5 minutes a day.

This guide is for general information and is not investment advice.

Sources

• SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, consolidated text amended up to 22 January 2026, Regulations 33 and 46
• TaxGuru: SEBI Listing Regulations, financial results
• NSE: corporate filings, financial results
• BSE: corporate results
• Business Today: InterGlobe Aviation Q2 net loss at Rs 1,879 crore (29 October 2026)
• Free Press Journal: IndiGo posts ₹1,879 crore net loss in Q2 FY27
• EconoTimes: IndiGo's Q2 loss narrows despite a 67% jump in fuel costs
• JM Financial: IndiGo Q2 FY27 results
• Motilal Oswal: 8 things you should look for in the quarterly results announcement
• Business Today: How to read quarterly results
• Angel One: How to read quarterly results of a company
• Groww: How to read and understand quarterly reports