Cross-sector methodology
A Fiscal-Year Label Is Not a Shared Reporting Window
Costco, Salesforce, Adobe and Target each label a financial year FY2025, but the ending dates differ. A comparison guide to dates, units and reported measures.
Four fiscal year-end dates
The selected FY2025 reports end on January 31, 2025 for Salesforce, August 31, 2025 for Costco, November 28, 2025 for Adobe, and January 31, 2026 for Target. These labels do not describe one common twelve-month economic window.
Why alignment matters
A side-by-side table can be factually transcribed and still support a poor comparison. Different windows capture different demand, exchange-rate and cost conditions. For an analytical peer group, either align reporting intervals using additional disclosures or make the mismatch explicit. Do not silently combine fiscal annuals with a calendar-year quarter.
Units and precision
The company tables in this edition preserve dollar amounts in USD millions. EPS remains dollars per share, operational production has its own unit, and ratios remain percentages. If the source earnings summary gives a rounded number in billions, the converted million-dollar display retains a rounding note. Conversion does not create more precision.
Reported and calculated measures
GAAP observations, adjusted company measures and analyst calculations are different categories. A margin calculated by dividing operating profit by revenue should identify that formula and use matching periods. It should not be labelled a company-reported ratio unless that ratio is actually in the source.
Coverage and reproducibility
This edition contains a selected company universe rather than a complete securities master or a live-price service. The linked annual reports and releases remain the authoritative documents. Publication dates on these editorial pages describe this edition; the observation dates describe the underlying financial periods.