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Forward-looking statements

How 10-Ks identify plans and outlooks, what the legal safe harbor is, and how Apple and Walmart describe them.

What counts as a forward-looking statement

Apple's fiscal 2026 10-K says the report contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve risks and uncertainties. It defines them as providing current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions, and as including any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. It also lists cue words such as “future,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “can,” and “may.”

Guidance, planned product launches, expected tax rates, capital-spending plans and “we believe” statements about future demand all sit in this category. A historical revenue figure for last year does not. Walmart's 10-K points to Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Exchange Act safe harbor that sits alongside the 1995 Act.

What the safe harbor does

The safe harbor is meant to let companies discuss plans and outlooks without being sued solely because the future turned out differently, provided the statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful cautionary language. Apple's 10-K states that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results may differ significantly, and it points to the risk factors in Item 1A. It also says the company assumes no obligation to revise or update them except as required by law.

The cautionary language is only as useful as it is specific. A generic warning that “risks exist” is weaker than a discussion of the actual risks the company faces, which is why the forward-looking-statements section and the risk factors are meant to be read together. Earnings guidance is one common kind of forward-looking statement, often first published in an earnings release or 8-K and later repeated in the 10-Q or 10-K.

How to use these sections

• Treat a forward-looking statement as a description of management's current plan or expectation, not as a fact that has already happened.
• When a later 10-Q or 8-K withdraws or changes guidance, that revision is often more informative than the original sentence.
• The financial statements themselves remain historical. The forward-looking language lives in the narrative: Item 1, MD&A, and sometimes the notes.

More in Learn and Tools · Methodology & Disclosures explains where every number comes from.