SEC forms / Form 8-K
What is an 8-K? The SEC current report, explained
An 8-K is the SEC's current report — the form a US public company must file when something material happens between its quarterly reports: an earnings release, a CEO departure, a merger agreement, a new credit facility, a bankruptcy. Most events must be reported within four business days, which makes the 8-K the fastest official record of corporate news. Each filing is organized into numbered items that identify the event type, with the substance — the press release or the actual agreement — attached as exhibits.
Deadline
4 business days after the event
Who files
US public reporting companies
Cadence
Event-driven — thousands per week
Foreign issuers
File Form 6-K instead
Latest Form 8-K filings
| Accepted | Company | |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 17, 17:30 | PEDEVCO CORP | View → |
| Jul 17, 17:29 | SOBR Safe, Inc. | View → |
| Jul 17, 17:26 | Exodus Movement, Inc. | View → |
| Jul 17, 17:25 | Digital Brands Group, Inc. | View → |
| Jul 17, 17:23 | Empire State Realty OP, L.P. | View → |
| Jul 17, 17:23 | SOUTHERN COPPER CORP/ | View → |
| Jul 17, 17:19 | SkyAI, Inc. | View → |
| Jul 17, 17:17 | BEYOND MEAT, INC. | View → |
| Jul 17, 17:12 | PSB Financial, Inc. | View → |
| Jul 17, 17:12 | Penguin Solutions, Inc. | View → |
| Jul 17, 17:12 | Citigroup Commercial Mortgage Trust 2026-MFAM1 | View → |
| Jul 17, 17:09 | CHARLES & COLVARD LTD | View → |
Straight from the live SEC EDGAR stream — every Form 8-K as it is accepted, most recent first. Open the full live Form 8-K feed →
What to look for in a Form 8-K
- The item number first — it names the event: 2.02 is an earnings release, 5.02 is an officer or director change, 1.01 is a material agreement, 1.03 is bankruptcy, 8.01 is the catch-all.
- The exhibits — the substance usually lives there: the press release is typically EX-99.1, a signed agreement is an EX-10. The 8-K body is often just a wrapper.
- The first sentence of each item — companies front-load the operative fact, then pad with boilerplate.
- Multiple items on one filing — an earnings 8-K (2.02) that also carries a 5.02 officer change is telling you two stories at once.
What triggers an 8-K filing?
Any of roughly thirty specified events: entering or terminating a material agreement (Item 1.01/1.02), bankruptcy (1.03), completing an acquisition or disposition (2.01), earnings results (2.02), creating a direct financial obligation like new debt (2.03), delisting notices (3.01), auditor changes (4.01), officer and director departures or appointments (5.02), amendments to governing documents (5.03), shareholder vote results (5.07), Regulation FD disclosures (7.01), and other events the company deems material (8.01).
How quickly must an 8-K be filed?
Within four business days of the triggering event for most items. Regulation FD disclosures (Item 7.01) are effectively faster — the rule requires public disclosure promptly, so those often appear the same day. This deadline is why the 8-K stream is the closest thing to an official real-time news wire for public companies.
What do the 8-K item numbers mean?
Items are grouped into nine sections: Section 1 covers business and operations (agreements, bankruptcy), Section 2 covers financial information (acquisitions, earnings, debt, impairments), Section 3 covers securities matters (delisting, unregistered sales), Section 4 covers auditor and financial-statement issues, Section 5 covers governance (officer changes, elections, bylaws), Section 7 is Regulation FD, Section 8 is other events, and Section 9 lists the exhibits. The full item-by-item frequency table is on our 8-K item codes reference.
Is an 8-K good or bad news?
Neither — it is a container, not a signal. The same form announces a record quarter, a CEO resignation, a dividend increase, or a covenant default. The item number and the exhibit carry the meaning. That said, some items skew negative (1.03 bankruptcy, 3.01 delisting, 4.02 non-reliance on past financials) and some skew routine (5.07 vote results, 9.01 exhibits only).
What is the difference between an 8-K and a 10-K or 10-Q?
Timing and scope. The 10-K (annual) and 10-Q (quarterly) are periodic reports — comprehensive, scheduled, covering a full fiscal period. The 8-K is episodic: it reports one event, days after it happens, with no financial statements attached beyond what the event requires. Read 8-Ks to learn what just happened; read the 10-K and 10-Q to understand the business.
Related SEC forms
Form 8-K JSON
Free JSON · no key · no loginGET https://app.edgar.tools/forms/8-k.json
{
"form": "8-K",
"name": "Form 8-K",
"deadline": "4 business days after the event",
"latest": [
{ "accession": "…", "cik": 320193, "company": "Apple Inc.", "accepted": "…" }
]
}The form's key facts plus the newest filings, machine-readable.