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One-time items: impairments, restructuring and gains

What one-time items are, where to find them in a filing, and how they differ from adjusted earnings, with figures from real 10-Ks.

The common kinds

• Goodwill impairment: goodwill is the part of an acquisition's price above the value of the assets bought. When the acquired business is worth less than it was, the company writes goodwill down and books the drop as a charge. It costs no cash at the time; the cash was spent on the acquisition. Verizon recorded a goodwill impairment of $5.8B in fiscal 2023.
• Asset impairment: the same idea for factories, equipment, licenses and other assets whose expected value has fallen below the value on the books.
• Restructuring charges: the cost of closing sites, cutting jobs or ending projects, such as severance pay and contract cancellations.
• Gains and losses on selling a business: the difference between the price received and the value on the books. Emerson recorded a gain of $13.4B on the sale of a business in fiscal 2023.
• Legal settlements and fines, and the results of discontinued operations, which are shown on their own line below income from continuing operations.

Source: Verizon 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed Feb 17, 2026 · Emerson 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed Nov 10, 2025

Several items in one year

Intel's fiscal 2024 included $3.6B of asset impairment, $3.5B of restructuring charges and $3.0B of goodwill impairment, in a year when it reported a net loss (net income of −$18.8B). Charges like these are part of the reported loss, so the loss says as much about write-downs as about that year's operations.

Source: Intel 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed Jan 23, 2026

When "one-time" items recur

Some companies record restructuring charges year after year. Pfizer's restructuring charges topped $1 billion in each of fiscal 2023, 2024 and 2025, and so did General Motors' in each of fiscal 2023, 2024 and 2025. When an item keeps coming back, readers often treat it as part of the cost of running the business rather than as a one-off.

Source: Pfizer 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed Feb 26, 2026 · General Motors 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed Jan 27, 2026

One-time items and "adjusted" earnings

Many companies also publish adjusted (non-GAAP) figures, such as adjusted EPS, that leave out items they consider one-time. The rules require the company to show the matching GAAP figure as prominently and to reconcile the two, usually in the earnings release attached to an 8-K. Each company decides what to adjust for, so adjusted figures from two companies may not be built the same way. Ticker Sage's company files use the reported GAAP figures from the 10-K.

Where to find them

• Income statement: large items often have their own line, such as "restructuring and other charges" or "goodwill impairment".
• Notes to the financial statements: separate notes on restructuring, goodwill and intangible assets, and acquisitions and divestitures give the details.
• MD&A (Item 7 of the 10-K): management explains which items affected the year's results.
• Earnings release: the reconciliation from GAAP to adjusted figures lists each item the company excluded.

Items of $1 billion or more at covered companies

Items of $1 billion or more in any of the last three fiscal years, from each company's 10-K, where the company tags the item with the standard name used here. Sorted by size. Charges are shown as positive amounts, as companies report them; a gain on a sale is positive and a loss negative. Many companies report similar items under other names, so the list isn't complete.

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