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8-K Current Reports: Parse SEC Corporate Events and Earnings with Python

Companies file 8-K current reports within four business days of material events -- acquisitions, executive changes, earnings releases, bankruptcy. EdgarTools parses these filings into structured Python objects so you can access the event items, press releases, and financial tables.

from edgar import *

filing = get_filings(form="8-K").latest()
eight_k = filing.obj()
eight_k

8-K current report parsed with Python edgartools

Three lines to get a parsed 8-K with company info, filing date, items disclosed, and exhibits.

See today's 8-K filings on edgar.tools — with AI-classified material event types →

Read Item Content

Every 8-K discloses one or more numbered items (1.01 through 9.01). The items property lists what was disclosed:

eight_k.items  # ['Item 2.02', 'Item 9.01']

Access the text of any item by number:

# Works with or without "Item" prefix
content = eight_k['2.02']
content = eight_k['Item 2.02']

print(content)

Common items:

Item What it reports
1.01 Material agreements
2.02 Earnings and financial condition
5.02 Director or officer changes
8.01 Other events
9.01 Financial statements and exhibits

The complete mapping is in eight_k.structure.

Access Press Releases

Most 8-Ks attach press releases as EX-99 exhibits:

if eight_k.has_press_release:
    releases = eight_k.press_releases
    pr = releases[0]

    # Get content in different formats
    pr.text()         # Plain text
    pr.html()         # HTML
    pr.to_markdown()  # Markdown
    pr.open()         # Open in browser

Press releases are indexed by position. press_releases[0] is the first release, press_releases[1] is the second.

Extract Earnings and Financial Statements from 8-K Filings

When a company reports quarterly earnings, the numbers first appear in an 8-K -- weeks before the formal 10-Q. The company files Item 2.02 ("Results of Operations and Financial Condition") and attaches the earnings press release as an EX-99.1 exhibit. That exhibit contains HTML tables with income statements, balance sheets, and cash flows. EdgarTools detects this pattern and parses the tables automatically.

from edgar import Company

aapl = Company("AAPL")
filing = aapl.get_filings(form="8-K").latest()
eight_k = filing.obj()

eight_k.has_earnings  # True if Item 2.02 + parseable EX-99.1 exhibit

Get Financial Statements

if eight_k.has_earnings:
    # Direct access to parsed statements
    eight_k.income_statement       # FinancialTable or None
    eight_k.balance_sheet          # FinancialTable or None
    eight_k.cash_flow_statement    # FinancialTable or None

    # Safe accessors -- always return a DataFrame (empty if missing)
    df = eight_k.get_income_statement()
    df = eight_k.get_balance_sheet()
    df = eight_k.get_cash_flow_statement()

Work with the Data

Each statement is a FinancialTable with the parsed data and detected scale:

income = eight_k.income_statement

income.dataframe         # Parsed data as DataFrame
income.scaled_dataframe  # Values multiplied by detected scale
income.scale             # Scale enum (UNITS, THOUSANDS, MILLIONS, BILLIONS)
income.title             # Table title if detected
income.to_html()         # HTML export for web apps
income.to_json()         # JSON export for APIs

Press releases often report values "in millions" or "in thousands." EdgarTools detects the scale from the document text. Use scaled_dataframe to get actual dollar amounts, or check scale to apply your own multiplier.

Access All Parsed Tables

The earnings property returns the full EarningsRelease object, which may contain more than just the three core statements:

earnings = eight_k.earnings

earnings.financial_tables   # All parsed financial tables
earnings.segment_data       # Business segment breakdown
earnings.eps_reconciliation # GAAP to Non-GAAP EPS reconciliation
earnings.guidance           # Forward guidance table
earnings.detected_scale     # Document-level scale factor

Not every press release includes all of these -- segment_data, eps_reconciliation, and guidance return None when the company doesn't report them.

Work with Exhibits

All 8-K attachments (press releases, financial statements, material agreements):

exhibits = filing.exhibits

for ex in exhibits:
    print(f"{ex.document_type}: {ex.description}")

# Access specific exhibit
ex_99 = exhibits[0]
content = ex_99.download()

Exhibits are indexed by position. The document_type shows what kind of exhibit it is (EX-99.1, EX-10.1, etc.).

Common Analysis Patterns

Find all earnings releases in a quarter

from edgar import get_filings

filings = get_filings(
    form="8-K",
    date="2024-01-01:2024-03-31"
)

for filing in filings[:20]:
    eight_k = filing.obj()
    if eight_k.has_earnings:
        print(f"{filing.company}: {filing.filing_date}")

Extract all financial tables

if eight_k.has_earnings:
    for table in eight_k.earnings.financial_tables:
        print(f"{table.statement_type.value}: {table.dataframe.shape}")

Check for specific events

# Director changes
if 'Item 5.02' in eight_k.items:
    print(eight_k['5.02'])

# Material agreements
if 'Item 1.01' in eight_k.items:
    print(eight_k['1.01'])

# Stock split announcements (Item 8.01 or 5.03)
if 'Item 8.01' in eight_k.items or 'Item 5.03' in eight_k.items:
    content = eight_k.get('8.01') or eight_k.get('5.03') or ''
    if 'split' in content.lower():
        print(f"Stock split announced: {filing.filing_date}")

See this on edgar.tools

The code above detects 8-K event types by checking item numbers manually. edgar.tools classifies material events automatically using LLMs — earnings, acquisitions, executive changes, and more — across every 8-K as it's filed.

Includes AI-generated summaries, business descriptions, and cross-filing linkages. Free tier available. Pricing →

Metadata Quick Reference

Property Returns Example
company Company name "Apple Inc."
form Form type "8-K"
filing_date Date filed with SEC "2024-02-01"
period_of_report Report date "2024-01-31"
date_of_report Formatted report date "January 31, 2024"
items List of disclosed items ['Item 2.02', 'Item 9.01']
has_press_release Has EX-99 press release? True
has_earnings Has parseable earnings data? True

Methods Quick Reference

Call Returns What it does
eight_k['2.02'] str Get item content by number
eight_k.press_releases PressReleases Collection of press release exhibits
eight_k.earnings EarningsRelease Parsed earnings tables from EX-99.1
eight_k.income_statement FinancialTable Income statement or None
eight_k.balance_sheet FinancialTable Balance sheet or None
eight_k.cash_flow_statement FinancialTable Cash flow statement or None
eight_k.get_income_statement() DataFrame Income statement (empty DataFrame if missing)
eight_k.get_balance_sheet() DataFrame Balance sheet (empty DataFrame if missing)
eight_k.get_cash_flow_statement() DataFrame Cash flow (empty DataFrame if missing)

Things to Know

Item detection is multi-tier. EdgarTools uses document parser first (95% accuracy), falls back to text extraction for legacy SGML filings (1999-2001).

Earnings parsing requires EX-99.1. The has_earnings property returns True only if Item 2.02 is present AND an EX-99.1 exhibit contains parseable tables. Some earnings 8-Ks only have narrative text.

Scale matters. Financial tables include scale detection (thousands, millions, billions). Use scaled_dataframe to get values with scale applied, or check table.scale to apply manually.

Not all 8-Ks have XBRL. 8-K filings typically contain only DEI (Document and Entity Information) XBRL metadata. Actual financial data is in HTML tables within EX-99 exhibits.

Press releases use pattern matching. EdgarTools looks for EX-99, EX-99.1, EX-99.01 exhibits or exhibits with "RELEASE" in the description. Some companies use non-standard exhibit numbering.