Look at the following two headlines:
These are headings from the same web site, and it conveys the Q3 2007 results of two companies, Infosys and Sintex.
If you go by this heading you will think that Infosys has had a lacklustre performance but Sintex has done excellently.
But the problem is – each company has been reported differently! Infosys has been reported on a Quarter on Quarter (QoQ) comparison, that is, Q3 2007 results compared to Q2 2007.
Sintex, on the other hand, has been reported on it’s Year-on-Year (YoY) performance, i.e. Q3 2007 compared with Q3 2006.
This is not clear when you look at the headings – ALWAYS look inside results to see the true performance.
Comparing apples to apples now, here is the performance of Sintex and Infosys:
QoQ
Infosys: +6%
Sintex: -17.8% (Negative, earlier quarter had higher profits)
Infosys: +6%
Sintex: -17.8% (Negative, earlier quarter had higher profits)
YoY
Infosys: +51%
Sintex: 27%
You see how different it is when you have the real picture? Don’t trust the headlines; do your own research.
