Guidance
The forecast a company publishes about its own next quarter, before the quarter has happened.
When a listed company reports its results, it usually also says what it expects for the months ahead: how much it expects to sell, and what margin it expects to keep. That forward statement is the guidance.
It is not a promise and not audited. But it is made in public by named executives to their own shareholders, which is why markets often react more to the guidance than to the results themselves. The results describe a quarter that is finished and already partly known; the guidance is new information.
On 30 July 2026 Apple reported its best June quarter ever and the share fell more than seven percent the next day. The results were not the problem. The guidance was: management said the margin would fall again in the September quarter.
See also
This definition is part of the EPTA5 lexicon, written so that a reader who does not work in finance can follow our market notes without stopping. It is general information and not investment advice. Read the notes.