How to deconstruct a U.S. 10-K annual report

Brett Gardner, author of *Buffett’s Early Investments*: 'The deeper I understand a business, the more valuable insights I can extract from its financial statements.' I find the following post an excellent introductory resource. Generally, when researching a company I’m unfamiliar with, I first clarify—on the most fundamental level—how it makes money, and gradually build a mental model of how the business operates: What is its economic moat? Where does it hold competitive advantages? And so on. Typically, before even opening these documents, I’ve already modeled and reviewed the company’s historical financial data. While reading, I also pay special attention to various data points mentioned—exactly as you noted—such as market share and total addressable market (TAM). As for the financial statement footnotes, I usually don’t read them upfront. Instead, I save them for later—specifically, when I need to compare this company’s footnotes side-by-side with those of its competitors. I’d just spent a day and a half in London, still jet-lagged by a full eight hours—and hadn’t slept for 48 straight hours—when it suddenly struck me: I still owed Wall Street Oasis (WSO) an article explaining, in my usual fashion, how I deconstruct a 10-K (the annual report U.S. public companies file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission). Before diving in, remember this: Every company is different, and its specific business dictates how you should read its 10-K. What matters deeply when analyzing an oil-and-gas firm may be entirely irrelevant for a durable-goods retailer. So don’t treat the approach below as dogma. Heaven forbid your portfolio manager (PM) one day asks you to rapidly get up to speed on a new company—and you recall old BlackHat’s silly advice, take it as gospel, and miss critical information that could sway your investment decision. Below, I walk through exactly how I approach my first read of a 10-K: what I focus on, what I skim—if anything truly merits skimming—to save time or, at the very least, avoid getting lost in the weeds. As always, after writing, I’ll answer questions if I’m in the mood—clarifying anything that remains unclear. Business Description No matter how seemingly straightforward a company appears, I begin my research assuming I know nothing about it—because, more often than not, that’s precisely the case. Even the cover page alone typically prompts me to highlight several items: fiscal year-end date, headquarters location, and number of outstanding shares and market capitalization—if the report provides them. These are simple facts, but I note them all, without exception. Next comes the Business Description—the very first section of every 10-K. Some details here prove unexpectedly important to me—including the company’s historical evolution and any changes over time in its reported segments (reportable segments).

Financial news on August 16, 2026

13. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled to remand DJI’s case concerning its inclusion on the Pentagon’s blacklist, finding flaws in the legal basis of the original judgment. DJI had previously been placed on the U.S. Department of Defense’s related blacklist, and the company has consistently denied the allegations. 14. NVIDIA, together with six major asset management firms—BlackRock, Blackstone, Apollo, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR—has established an independent AI compute financing platform. The platform offers residual-value guarantees of up to 25% for AI compute projects and aims to mobilize $500 billion in third-party capital over the long term, providing financing support for customers purchasing AI chips and building data centers. 15. International spot copper prices remain near a historic high of approximately $14,000 per ton, supported by tight global copper mine supply and surging demand from new-energy sectors. LME three-month copper futures rose modestly this week amid volatility. 16. Silver Lake is negotiating to acquire enterprise software company Workday at an estimated valuation of around $43 billion. If completed, the deal would rank among the largest private equity acquisitions in the technology sector this year. 17. Broadcom’s AI XPV Platform, officially launched in June this year, was jointly established by Broadcom with Apollo and Blackstone. Its initial capital commitment totals $35 billion, targeting over 20 GW of AI computing capacity by 2028. Its first transaction primarily serves Anthropic’s expansion plan exceeding 1 GW of compute capacity. 18. High-Bandwidth Flash (HBF) architecture has emerged as a new mainline for AI inference: its read bandwidth approaches 8–16 times that of HBM, while its cost is significantly lower. Major memory players—including SanDisk—are accelerating mass production of HBF products. The enterprise data center flash memory market is projected to expand to 1.2 ZB by 2030. 19. On August 14, the memory sector bucked broader market trends and rallied collectively: Kioxia ADR rose; Western Digital gained 7.31%; SK Hynix rose 7.29%; and SanDisk climbed 7.39%. All four global memory giants surged on the same day—reflecting broad market consensus on the AI-driven revaluation of memory demand. 20. Applied Materials’ stock declined on August 14 following its after-hours release of Q3 FY2026 earnings on August 13. Q3 revenue reached $9.115 billion, up 24.8% year-on-year; adjusted EPS stood at $3.50. The company guided Q4 revenue between $9.75 billion and $10.75 billion—beating expectations—but investors took profits. 21. U.S. July Producer Price Index (PPI) was flat overall, yet core PPI inflation surged markedly. Markets now await the release of the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes to gauge the likely path of future interest rates. 22. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takagi reportedly supports further rate hikes by the Bank of Japan. Japanese government bond yields edged higher, and markets now anticipate a potential 25-basis-point hike at the BOJ’s September policy meeting. 23. The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its monthly Oil Market Report, raising its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2026—driven primarily by increased demand for aviation fuel and petrochemical feedstocks—while lowering its projection for non-OPEC supply growth. The global oil market now faces an estimated supply deficit of approximately 1.8 million barrels per day.

Oil-Dri Corp of America FY 2026: Revenue $493.8M, EPS $3.92— 10-K Summary

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Oil-Dri Corp reported FY 2026 revenue of $493.8M and EPS of $3.92, driven by cat litter volume gains despite higher costs. Net income rose 6% to $57M.

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