How to Build a Pre-Earnings Checklist for DIY Investors

Earnings day is when DIY investors make their worst decisions: rushed, emotional, reacting to a headline number and a price move. Do the thinking before the release. A pre-earnings checklist turns the day into a comparison exercise. You check the results against thresholds you wrote down when you were calm.

Educational only, not financial advice. This is the before half of a pair. The after half is how to debrief an earnings print in under an hour. Reading guides for the documents themselves are in quarterly earnings for TSX companies and the earnings press release.

Direct answer

One to two weeks before the release, confirm the date, re-read last quarter’s MD&A and any guidance, and write down three to five KPIs with pre-set thresholds (good / OK / concern / kill). Re-read your kill criteria. Pre-commit to what you will and won’t do on release day, such as no trades in the first hour and acting only when a written rule triggers. On the day, fill in the actual numbers and follow the debrief plan.

The checklist

#	Item	Done when
1	Release date and call time confirmed	In your calendar, from the company’s investor relations page
2	Last quarter’s press release, MD&A and call notes re-read	You can state the three things management promised
3	Guidance and its assumptions logged	Written in your guidance commitment log
4	3–5 KPIs chosen	Tied to your thesis pillars, not generic
5	Thresholds written for each KPI	Good / OK / concern / kill bands set
6	Kill criteria re-read	From your Thesis → Catalyst → Kill card
7	Known one-offs noted	Expected restructuring, FX, weather, strikes
8	Position size and max change set	Per your position sizing rules
9	Release-day rules written	e.g. no trades for the first hour; read the filing before the headlines
10	Debrief time booked	Within 48 hours

Choosing KPIs by business type

Business type	Example KPIs	Related post
Retail / consumer	Same-store sales, gross margin, inventory	Same-store sales, inventory turns
Industrials	Backlog, book-to-bill, margins	Backlog and book-to-bill
Banks	NIM, PCLs, CET1	Bank operating metrics
Resource issuers	Production, unit costs, realized price	Commodity sensitivity
Software / subscription	Recurring revenue, retention, unit economics	Unit economics

Hypothetical threshold example

KPI	Good	OK	Concern	Kill
Organic revenue growth	≥ 6%	3–6%	0–3%	< 0% two quarters running
Gross margin	≥ 38%	36–38%	34–36%	< 34% with no stated one-off
Net debt / EBITDA	≤ 2.5x	2.5–3.0x	3.0–3.5x	> 3.5x or a covenant amendment

The numbers are hypothetical. What matters is writing them down before you see the results.

Related reading

• How to debrief an earnings print in under an hour
• How to update a stock thesis after a beat or miss
• How to read an earnings press release before the charts
• How to read an earnings call transcript
• Framework: Bull / Bear / Watch decision card

Sources

• NI 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations (interim filing deadlines, MD&A, forward-looking information in Part 4A). Confirm the current text on the CSA website.
• NP 51-201 Disclosure Standards (how issuers disseminate material information, including earnings releases and calls).
• Gollwitzer (1999), “Implementation intentions,” American Psychologist (pre-committed if-then plans).

Media credits

• Hero: “Running the checklist (14729226029).jpg” by US Air Force from USA, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized to 1280x720. Real photograph (KC-135 pilot running a checklist), not AI-generated.

By Andrew · stocksummarizer.com