Fiscal year vs calendar year: why Apple's Q4 is July–September

Between Tuesday, Oct 27 and Thursday, Oct 29, 2026, four large US companies reported results for the same three months, July to September 2026, and gave them four different names. Visa (V) called it its fiscal fourth quarter of 2026. Microsoft (MSFT) called it the first quarter of fiscal 2027. Starbucks (SBUX) reported the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2026, and Intel (INTC) its third quarter of 2026. On Nov 2 and 3, Apple (AAPL) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) add two more names for nearly the same stretch: Apple's fiscal fourth quarter and AMD's fiscal third.

The short answer: a company's fiscal year is the 12-month accounting year it chooses, and it doesn't have to match the calendar. Apple's fiscal year ends on the last Saturday of September, so its fiscal Q4 is roughly July to September. Microsoft's ends on June 30, so its fiscal 2027 runs from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027, and its fiscal Q1 is July to September. This guide shows how to read any fiscal label from the company's own filings, why some years have 53 weeks, and how to line up companies whose fiscal years end in different months.

All dates are in 2026. Labels and dates from each company's earnings release, 8-K, 10-Q or results announcement, as of Oct 31, 2026. "Our count" is a MoverTape calculation: Apple's and AMD's quarters normally run 13 weeks, and both companies' June quarters ended on Sat, Jun 27, 2026 (their 10-Qs), which puts the September quarter's end 13 weeks later, on Sep 26. Neither company has published that date yet.

So "Q3 2026" at Intel ended four days before "Q3 2026" at Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN), and Apple's "fourth quarter" ended on the same Saturday as Intel's "third". The labels tell you where a quarter sits in each company's own year. Only the end date tells you where it sits on the calendar.

What a fiscal year is

The SEC's definition is one sentence long. Under Exchange Act Rule 12b-2, a "fiscal year" means "the annual accounting period or, if no closing date has been adopted, the calendar year ending on December 31" (Rule 12b-2). December 31 is only the default. A company adopts its own closing date, and its annual report states it on the cover: the cover of every Form 10-K reads "For the fiscal year ended", followed by a date.

That date is the one to trust. Apple's latest annual report covers the fiscal year ended September 27, 2025 (10-K); Microsoft's, June 30, 2026 (10-K); Visa's, September 30, 2025 (10-K). The number in a label such as "fiscal 2026" is a company's own convention, and, as the sections below show, companies don't all follow the same one.

Companies file a quarterly report, the 10-Q, for each of the first three quarters of their fiscal year. The fourth quarter has no 10-Q of its own: the 10-K covers the whole year, and the fourth quarter shows up in the earnings release, or as the full year minus the first nine months. Our guide on how to read an earnings report walks through the release, the 10-Q and the 10-K.

Apple's fiscal quarters by month

Apple's fiscal year is "the 52- or 53-week period that ends on the last Saturday of September", according to its 10-K. Roughly, that makes:

• Fiscal Q1: October to December
• Fiscal Q2: January to March
• Fiscal Q3: April to June
• Fiscal Q4: July to September

"Roughly", because Apple counts its quarters in weeks, not months. Each quarter normally has 13 weeks and ends on a Saturday, so the exact dates move a little every year. Here is fiscal 2026:

Each quarter starts the day after the previous one ends; fiscal 2025 ended Sat, Sep 27, 2025 (10-K). Quarter-end dates from the covers of Apple's 10-Qs, via StockFit's filing data, as of Oct 31, 2026. The fourth-quarter end is the last Saturday of September 2026 under Apple's rule, 13 weeks after Jun 27.

So the fiscal fourth quarter Apple reports on Monday, Nov 2, covers the 13 weeks from Jun 28 to Sep 26, 2026: in practice, July to September. Apple has scheduled its fiscal Q4 conference call for 5:00 pm ET that day (Apple Investor Relations). This guide covers the calendar only, not what the quarter will show. Apple's fiscal 2027 began on Sun, Sep 27, 2026, so the quarter it is in now, fiscal Q1 2027, is the one that holds October, November and December.

What Microsoft's fiscal 2027 means

Microsoft's fiscal year ends on a fixed date, June 30, and Microsoft names each year after the calendar year in which it ends. Fiscal 2026 ended on June 30, 2026 (10-K cover). Fiscal 2027 began on July 1, 2026, and ends on June 30, 2027:

So the quarter in our recap of Microsoft's Q1 FY2027 earnings is the one that ended Sep 30, 2026: the same months as the third quarter in our Alphabet and Amazon recaps, and in our Exxon and Chevron recap. All four of those companies keep their books on the calendar year.

Microsoft also runs two clocks at once. It reports fiscal quarters, but on its Oct 28 call it gave its outlook for capital spending by calendar year: about $170 billion for calendar 2026 (our recap). Calendar 2026 is the second half of Microsoft's fiscal 2026 plus the first half of its fiscal 2027. That is why our post on Big Tech capex and free cash flow lines Microsoft up with the others by calendar quarter.

One label, five different quarters

Because each company starts its year in a different month, the same label can point to very different months. Take "fiscal Q1 2027":

Year-end rules from each company's latest 10-K. Quarter dates are MoverTape calculations from those rules and from the latest year-end and quarter-end dates on each company's filings (Nvidia's fiscal 2026 ended Jan 25, 2026; Walmart's second quarter ended Jul 31, 2026), as of Oct 31, 2026.

The first of these began in January 2026 and the last ends in December 2026. A headline that says "fiscal first quarter" without the months can mean almost any time of the year.

Three ways companies end a year

The year-ends of the companies in this guide fall into three groups.

1. A fixed date. Microsoft (June 30), Visa (September 30) and Walmart (January 31). Every year has 365 or 366 days, and the quarters end on month-ends. Walmart adds a wrinkle: its year ends on January 31 for its US and Canadian operations, and it consolidates its other operations generally with a one-month lag and on a calendar-year basis, according to its 10-K.
2. The last given weekday of a month. Apple (the last Saturday of September), Intel and AMD (the last Saturday in December) and Nvidia (the last Sunday in January). Each of these years has 52 or 53 weeks.
3. The weekday nearest a date. Starbucks (the Sunday closest to September 30), Target (the Saturday nearest January 31) and Home Depot (the Sunday nearest to January 31). These years also have 52 or 53 weeks, and can end in the following month.

Rules in each company's words, from its latest 10-K, as of Oct 31, 2026. Starbucks' fiscal 2026 has since ended, on Sep 27, 2026, according to its Oct 29 release; its 10-K for that year has not been filed yet.

A week-based year always ends on the same day of the week, and each of its quarters normally has exactly 13 weeks. The price is that the year-end moves. A 52-week year is 364 days, one day short of a calendar year and two short when it includes a Feb 29, so the closing date slides earlier each year. Intel's fiscal years ended on Dec 31, 2022, Dec 30, 2023, Dec 28, 2024 and Dec 27, 2025, according to its 10-Ks, and by its rule fiscal 2026 ends on Sat, Dec 26, 2026 (MoverTape calculation).

The nearest-weekday rule can push the year-end across a month line. Starbucks' fiscal 2023 ended on Oct 1, 2023, because that Sunday was closer to September 30 than the Sunday before it (Starbucks 10-K). Home Depot's fiscal 2025 ended on Feb 1, 2026.

Is it fiscal 2025 or fiscal 2026?

There is no rule for which calendar year goes into the label. Most companies in this guide name a fiscal year after the calendar year in which it ends: Microsoft's fiscal 2027 ends in June 2027, Apple's fiscal 2026 ended in September 2026, and Nvidia's fiscal 2027 ends in January 2027.

Retailers whose years end around January 31 don't agree with one another:

• Walmart: the year that ended Jan 31, 2026 is "fiscal 2026" (10-K).
• Target: "Fiscal 2025 ended January 31, 2026" (10-K).
• Home Depot: its fiscal 2025 ended on Feb 1, 2026 (10-K).

The same twelve months carry two names a year apart. Target and Home Depot name the year after the calendar year in which it began, Walmart after the year in which it ended. So "fiscal 2026" at Walmart and at Target are different years: Walmart's ended on Jan 31, 2026, and Target's will end on Jan 30, 2027, according to its 10-K.

What a 53rd week does to growth

A week-based calendar falls one day behind the calendar each year, and two in a leap year, so every five or six years the company adds a 53rd week to catch up. Apple describes it this way: "An additional week is included in the first fiscal quarter every five or six years to realign the Company's fiscal quarters with calendar quarters." Its last 53-week year was fiscal 2023; fiscal 2024 and 2025 had 52 weeks each.

One extra week adds about 1.9% to the length of the year (1 ÷ 52), and a 14-week quarter is 7.7% longer than a 13-week one (1 ÷ 13; both MoverTape calculations). That raises growth in the year the extra week lands, and makes the next year's comparison harder, because 52 weeks are then measured against 53.

Starbucks is the live example. Its fiscal 2027, which began on Sep 28, 2026, "is a 53-week year instead of the usual 52-week year", the company said in its Oct 29 release, and the extra week will fall in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027. By the company's rule, the year ends on Sun, Oct 3, 2027 (MoverTape calculation). The guidance in that release shows how much the week matters:

• Net revenue: expected to decline by about 1% year over year, "including approximately $700 million related to the 53rd week".
• Non-GAAP earnings per share: $3.15 to $3.25, "including slightly more than ten cents related to the 53rd week".
• Comparable coffeehouse sales: growth of about 4.0% in North America, measured "relative to fiscal year 2026 on a 52-week basis", so this figure leaves the extra week out.

For scale: Starbucks' fiscal 2026 net revenue was $37.9 billion over 52 weeks (release), or about $729 million in an average week (MoverTape calculation from the release's $37,910.6 million). The company's $700 million for the 53rd week is a little below that average. The two figures measure different things, one specific week at the end of fiscal 2027 and one average week of fiscal 2026, so the comparison only shows the order of magnitude.

Nvidia is the other one this year. Its 10-K says: "Fiscal year 2027 will be a 53-week year with the fourth quarter consisting of 14 weeks." By the company's calendar, that quarter runs from Mon, Oct 26, 2026, to Sun, Jan 31, 2027, which is 98 days (MoverTape calculation). Nvidia has not put a figure on the extra week in the documents we read.

Further out, by the published rules only. Intel's and AMD's fiscal 2028 would end on Sat, Dec 30, 2028, 53 weeks after their fiscal 2027 year-end of Dec 25, 2027; both last had a 53-week year in fiscal 2022, which ended on Dec 31, 2022 (Intel, AMD 10-Ks). Apple's fiscal 2028 would end on Sat, Sep 30, 2028, 53 weeks after Sep 25, 2027. These dates are MoverTape calculations from each company's rule; none of the three has said so. Recent 53-week years elsewhere: Home Depot's fiscal 2024 and Target's fiscal 2023, according to their 10-Ks.

How to compare companies on different calendars

1. Line up by end date, not by label. Intel's Q3 2026 and Apple's fiscal Q4 2026 both ended on Sat, Sep 26 (Apple's by its rule). Microsoft's fiscal Q1 2027 and Alphabet's Q3 2026 both ended on Sep 30.
2. Print the months next to the label. "Fiscal first quarter of 2027 (July–September 2026)" can't be misread; "Q1 FY27" can.
3. Count the weeks. A 14-week quarter against a 13-week one isn't like for like. Use the effect the company itself states, as Starbucks does, and don't scale the numbers yourself.
4. Mind the fourth quarter. There is no 10-Q for it: the figures come from the earnings release, or from the 10-K's full year minus the first nine months.
5. Keep the two clocks apart. A company that reports fiscal quarters may still guide by calendar year, as Microsoft does with capital spending.
6. In a dataset, join on the fiscal keys and take dates from the cover. In StockFit's income statements, each row carries fiscalYear and fiscalPeriod fields that follow the company's own labels, and StockFit's filing data gives each 10-Q and 10-K a periodEndDate, the date on the report's cover. A statement row's own period date is a key for the reporting period, not necessarily the cover date: for 52/53-week filers it can sit a day or two away. Join on fiscal year and period, and take "the quarter ended" from the filing. The field names are in the StockFit API documentation.

What to watch next

As of Oct 31, 2026:

• Mon, Nov 2: Apple reports its fiscal fourth quarter of 2026, with a conference call at 5:00 pm ET.
• Tue, Nov 3, after the close: AMD reports its fiscal third quarter of 2026, with a call at 5:00 pm ET (AMD).
• November: when Nvidia and Walmart report their fiscal third quarters of 2027, those quarters will run about a month later than everyone else's "Q3": Jul 27 to Oct 25, 2026 at Nvidia and Aug 1 to Oct 31, 2026 at Walmart (MoverTape calculations from their 10-Qs).
• Fiscal 2027 at Starbucks: the 53rd week arrives in the quarter that ends on Oct 3, 2027, and the company's comparable-sales figures will leave it out.

More explainers are in Guides.