Q4

Q4 is an abbreviation used to denote the fourth quarter of a calendar year or fiscal year. For the calendar year, Q4 comprises October, November, and December. For organizations with different fiscal year ends, Q4 covers the final three months of that fiscal year, regardless of calendar dates.

In finance and business reporting, Q4 is a key period for presenting annual results, harmonizing year-end financial statements, and issuing forward-looking guidance. Many companies experience heightened activity in Q4 due to holiday shopping, seasonal demand, and year-end investments or cost-cutting measures. The performance in Q4 can significantly affect annual revenue and profit, tax planning, and executive compensation metrics tied to year-end targets. Quarterly earnings releases in Q4 are often followed by year-end earnings calls and restatements of annual figures.

In statistics and data analysis, Q4 can denote the fourth quartile, the top 25 percent of a data distribution, depending on the method of calculation.

Related terms include calendar year quarters (Q1–Q4) and fiscal-year quarters. Depending on context, Q4 dates may differ from the calendar Oct 1–Dec 31 for some organizations that end their fiscal year earlier or later.