Public companies are required to file annual and quarterly reports with the SEC. The annual report, a Form 10-K, must be filed no later than
75 days after the end of the company's fiscal year. Google's fiscal year ended December 31, and by my count, the 75th day will be tomorrow, March 16.
The 10-K offers a wealth of information, and can provide insights into a company's operations and plans. For a tight-lipped company like Google, the 10-K is one of the most important and revealing disclosures available.
With any luck, Google will provide some context and commentary as well as their financial results.
Google and Warren Buffet have praised each other, and Google emulated
Buffett's annual letter to shareholders in the "
owner's manual" that they published during the IPO. The annual Buffett letter is
cherished for its direct, honest and folksy style, and for revealing Buffett's insights. It would be great to see something similar in Google's annual report.
A handful of companies
don't file on time, because they haven't been able to complete the process, or because the auditor couldn't attest to the company's
internal controls. If that were to happen, expect the stock to be punished severely.
Google did disclose in the IPO prospectus that it had some major improvements to make to internal controls. I'd feel much more comfortable to see the 10-K, and know that Google will meet its requirements -- it would be a nasty surprise to have another
hiccup with the SEC.
The
Ebay 10-K was filed on February 28,
Amazon filed on March 11, and
Yahoo also filed on March 11. Let's have it, Google!
Update March 17: Google's 10-K was not published yesterday, the 75th day after the end of the fiscal year. I contacted Google investor relations (
email), (who are very responsive and friendly, by the way), who said that as a newly public company, Google has 90 days to file their 10-K. The SEC website
confirms that the accelerated 75-day schedule only applies to companies that "have been subject to the Exchange Act’s reporting requirements for at least 12 calendar months."
