YCharts (free) late report dates for earnings (eps)
Author: superticker
Creation Date: 9/12/2020 12:47 AM
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superticker

#1
When YCharts posts an earnings per share (eps) date on the Chart, it posts it 32-days later than the actual report release date. See the screenshot below. When this incorrect release date gets passed into the EarningDate class, it gets confused.



This problem occurs with all YCharts stocks. I'm wondering if the delayed report date is just wrong because I'm a "free" YCharts subscriber or if it's something else? (I'm also wondering why 32 is a magic number?)
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Eugene

#2
That's by design. It was discussed on the forum before. Please check out this thread, posts #9 to #14:

YCharts Fundamental Data for Securities and Economic Data provider

Taking your CNMD for example, the actual report date for Q2'2020 is 07/29/2020. On YCharts website they still mark it as... June 30, 2020!



(Source: https://ycharts.com/companies/CNMD/eps)

I'm saying "still" because when it was first reported, they were responsive to the extent that replies came from their co-founder. It's been 9 or 10 years ago and the issue still exists. The data is still timestamped with the quarter's end date, creating a peeking effect if used as is. He then said they somehow should have the date on which the earnings were released once they get some other data source. It's still not the case. So the provider takes that June 30 and shifts it forward a month.

Alternatives:

Historical Quarterly Earnings data providers
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superticker

#3
QUOTE:
So the provider takes that June 30 and shifts it forward a month.
But that's the problem. The provider is not doing that for the posted date. The June date, 6/30/2020, which was reported July, 7/29/2020, is coming up on WL at the end of August, 8/31/2020, which is 32-days late from the report date! That's the problem.

Look at the screenshot again. I'm comparing the July and August dates, not the June date. The reported date should match the WL posted date, which is the way is in ATP and WLP.

The bottom line is we want the posted date in WLD to match to spike in stock price; otherwise, the earnings report date (and the EarningsDate class) are useless. We need it to work like ATP and WLP.

Of course, the report date will be later than the end of the quarter it applies to; everyone expects that. Duh. But the report and posted dates should match; otherwise, the EarningsDate class is useless for capturing the spike in stock price. The quarter dates (March and June) are irrelevant to this discussion and weren't even mentioned in Post# 1. Concentrate on the August 31 date in the screenshot instead.

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Eugene

#4
Darn. You're right. The free data is now shifted two months in advance rather than one. The root cause of the bug was here:

YCharts Fundamental Data for Securities and Economic Data provider, posts #110-112

In short, back in March 2017 it was noticed that the earnings dates for some companies were still being reported as non-delayed. Now it turns out that the fix I made has been erratically shifting the already adjusted dates in the "free" data client.

After all the years, YCharts still got the dates in post #110 wrong e.g.

Symbol Date (YCharts) Date (Zacks)
AVGO Oct. 31, 2016 Dec. 8, 2016
COO Oct. 31, 2016 Dec. 8, 2016

Sadly, the fix has made it worse for many other stocks like CNMD. I have no idea about the proportion of stocks with incorrect and correct earnings release dates at YCharts as there's no good solution to bad data. :/ The fix will be reverted in v2020.10 and if you'll be still using the free data by then, it will has to be reloaded by updating it.

P.S. The paid data by YCharts hasn't been affected.
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superticker

#5
QUOTE:
... with incorrect and correct earnings release dates at YCharts as there's no good solution to bad data. :/
And YCharts knows about this problem? Why would someone (like me) want to pay for their data if it's wrong? They should be trying to put their best foot forward so I subscribe. (I bet they don't know about this problem.)

Thanks for trying to fix it. I'll check out the update.
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Eugene

#6
If you're interested in their data, there probably is a free trial and I'm sure they should listen if you call their support number,
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Eugene

#7
fyi, version 2020.10 is released with the change in post #4.
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superticker

#8
Since YCharts v2000.10, the YCharts report release date (which is what matters where stock price is concerned) is sometimes a few days late (see PPIB screenshot) or a few days early (see VNO screenshot). Is this a problem with the data integrity of the free YCharts data feed itself or the provider interface?

Does the paid YCharts version have this same report-date problem? I certainly wouldn't want to pay for it if the data is unreliable. Zacks does seem to give the right report dates. Both providers give the correct EPS values.

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Eugene

#9
QUOTE:
Does the paid YCharts version have this same report-date problem?

You will find your question answered in post #4. See the "P.S."
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superticker

#10
So you're saying this is a data integrity problem with the free data feed from YCharts itself, and not the WL YChart provider interface/binding or the paid version of YCharts. Interesting. I wonder if YCharts knows (or cares) about this problem on their free data feed?
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Eugene

#11
QUOTE:
So you're saying this is a data integrity problem with the free data feed from YCharts itself, and not the WL YChart provider interface/binding or the paid version of YCharts.

Yes.
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