⚡ 8-K · Material Event Alerts

Real-Time 8-K Filing AlertsEarnings · M&A · CEO departures · regulatory actions within 15 minutes of EDGAR

Every 8-K filed by any US-listed company, tagged with the ticker and the item code (2.02, 1.01, 5.02, 8.01, etc.). Sub-15-minute latency. Free tier. Item-code parsed. The most actionable SEC form type, delivered fast.

8-K alerts are on the free Basic plan · Pro adds AI summary of Item 2.02 earnings press releases

~12m
EDGAR poll cadence
4d
SEC 8-K deadline
$0
For 8-K alerts

The six 8-K items that move price

An 8-K is one filing type but multiple item codes. The item code tells you what's inside before you read a word. Mastering item codes lets you pre-filter the firehose.

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Item 2.02 — Results of Operations

Earnings press releases. Revenue, EPS, guidance numbers live inside Exhibit 99.1. The single most price-moving item code — every quarterly earnings announcement triggers an 8-K Item 2.02.

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Item 1.01 — Material Agreement

Entry into a material definitive agreement. Often M&A. Also: licensing deals, major supply contracts, joint ventures. Read for counterparty + deal size + breakup fee.

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Item 5.02 — Officer Departure

Departure of directors or principal officers (CEO, CFO, COO). Sudden exits are bearish — often precede accounting issues. Planned successions are neutral.

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Item 4.02 — Non-Reliance

Company announces previously issued financial statements should not be relied upon. Restatement signal. Always negative — historical numbers were wrong. Often cascades across multiple quarters.

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Item 8.01 — Other Events

Catch-all category. FDA drug approvals, regulatory enforcement actions, settlement announcements, large contract wins, geopolitical impact disclosures. Wide variance in materiality.

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Item 7.01 — FD Disclosure

Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure). Voluntary disclosures the company wants on the record — often investor day presentations, analyst meeting materials, conference deck PDFs.

How to read an 8-K like an institutional trader

Step-by-step framework for converting raw 8-K filings into actionable trading signals. The structure, the timing, the exhibits.

Why 8-Ks are the highest-signal SEC form

An 8-K is filed when a material event happens, not on a schedule. That makes it qualitatively different from quarterly 10-Qs and annual 10-Ks:

  • Event-driven cadence. A company might file zero 8-Ks one quarter and twelve the next, depending on what's happening operationally.
  • 4-business-day filing deadline. Once a material event occurs, the company has 4 business days (sometimes shorter — earnings releases must precede or accompany the 8-K). This makes 8-Ks the closest thing in SEC filings to "live" information.
  • Item code structure. The item code header (e.g. "Item 2.02") tells you the category of event before you read the body. Read item codes first to triage.

Anatomy of an 8-K filing

Every 8-K follows the same structure:

  1. Cover page: Company name, CIK, filing date, item codes triggered.
  2. Item disclosure: One block per item code with the specific disclosure required by SEC rules. Most 8-Ks have 1-2 items; complex ones (M&A announcements) may have 5+.
  3. Exhibits: Attached documents — press releases (Exhibit 99.1), merger agreements (Exhibit 2.1), employment agreements, etc. The exhibits often contain the most important content.
  4. Signature: Authorising officer's signature.

For earnings 8-Ks specifically, Exhibit 99.1 is where revenue/EPS numbers live. Reading just the cover page and Exhibit 99.1 gives you 90% of the signal.

Pattern: the earnings 8-K reaction trade

The most repeatable 8-K trade pattern for active traders:

  1. Pre-event positioning. Watchlist names with earnings expected. Set 8-K alerts on those tickers.
  2. Filing detection. Item 2.02 8-K hits EDGAR. We surface it in your feed within ~15 minutes (often before mainstream financial media headline picks it up).
  3. Quick triage. Open Exhibit 99.1, scan three numbers: revenue (vs estimate), EPS (vs estimate), forward guidance (raise/maintain/lower).
  4. Position sizing. Magnitude of beat/miss + guidance direction = direction of trade. After-hours liquidity is thinner so size accordingly.
  5. Post-call refinement. The 8-K Item 2.02 captures the press release. The earnings call (next morning or same evening) reveals tone — adjust position based on Q&A signals.

Pattern: the activist 8-K signal

13D filings disclose new 5%+ stakes with activist intent. But the 8-K filed by the target company often confirms the activist's specific demands. Pattern:

  1. 13D shows up in EDGAR (known activist crosses 5% threshold)
  2. Stock pops 3-8% on initial 13D headline
  3. Target company files 8-K Item 8.01 acknowledging the position
  4. 8-K may include the activist's letter to the board (exhibit) — reveals strategy: M&A push, buyback demand, board seats, spinoff request
  5. Sizing decision based on activist's demand and historical success rate

Pattern: the surprise officer departure

Item 5.02 filings come in three flavours:

  • Planned succession — Press release explains transition timeline, names successor, includes outgoing CEO statement. Neutral-to-positive.
  • Effective immediately — No transition period. CEO leaves now. Highly negative — often signals discovered accounting issue or board conflict.
  • Personal reasons — Catch-all phrase. If repeated across multiple executives in short window, signals corporate dysfunction.

Read the 8-K Item 5.02 disclosure language carefully. "Resigned" vs "terminated" vs "mutual agreement" each carry different signal.

How TNT handles 8-Ks specifically

Every 8-K filing appears in the news feed with its item codes parsed from the header. The headline format: "SEC 8-K · TICKER (Company Name) — Material Events / Results of Operations / Officer Departure". Click the headline to open the filing directly on SEC.gov. Click the ticker tag to filter the feed to that ticker. On Pro, click "✦ AI Summary" on any quarter to get a 5-bullet AI summary of the Item 2.02 earnings press release.

Filtering strategies for 8-K firehose

The SEC receives roughly 1,500–2,000 8-K filings per day across all public companies. Three filtering approaches:

  • Watchlist-driven. Set up your asset filter to your top 25 names. Only 8-Ks tagged to those tickers appear. Tightest signal-to-noise.
  • Item-code-driven. Use the search bar with "8-k" + item code keywords like "earnings" or "departure" to filter to a specific category across all tickers.
  • Impact-driven. All 8-Ks get HIGH impact tag in TNT's classifier. Filter the feed to HIGH impact only when you want the highest-signal items.

Frequently asked questions

What is an 8-K filing?

An 8-K is a current report that US public companies must file with the SEC within 4 business days of a material event. Material events include earnings releases (Item 2.02), M&A agreements (1.01), CEO/CFO departures (5.02), changes in auditors (4.01), and regulatory actions (8.01). 8-Ks are the most actionable SEC form type for active traders because they disclose price-moving events as they happen.

How fast do 8-K filings appear in TNT?

Typically within 12-15 minutes of filing with the SEC. We poll the official SEC atom feeds every 12 minutes. For comparison, mainstream financial media often picks up 8-Ks 30-60 minutes later when surfaced by financial data vendors.

Which 8-K items matter most for trading?

Item 2.02 (earnings release) is the single most price-moving 8-K item. Item 1.01 (material agreements, often M&A) and Item 5.02 (officer departures) are next. Item 8.01 (other events) covers FDA approvals, contract wins, and regulatory enforcement — wide variance in materiality, read carefully.

Are 8-K alerts free?

Yes. SEC EDGAR ingestion including all 8-K filings is on the free Basic tier. Pro adds zero-delay news, AI earnings summary of the 8-K Item 2.02 press release, historical search, and Telegram alerts.

Can I get 8-K alerts via Telegram?

Yes on Pro. The Telegram bot can be configured to ping you on HIGH-impact events, which includes 8-K filings on tickers in your watchlist. Alerts include the headline, ticker, item code, and a link to the SEC filing.

How do I filter the feed to only 8-K filings?

Type "8-k" in the search box at the top, or click the yellow ⚖ SEC EDGAR source chip and then filter further. The Historical Search modal also has a source filter for archived 8-Ks by ticker and date range.

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