MMs are ALWAYS doing one of two things: 1) accumulating shares or 2) releasing profits The price of any ticker can be dramatically moved either up or down with quick buys and sells, to move it in the desired direction, on light volume, to allow them to do what? Accumulate or release profits. That's where and why the big moves are in after hours, light volume. To understand earnings, the trades just prior to the report is where the trade is, in the anticipation. When the report is dropped, it is simply the MMs making their move to do 1) or 2). A small negative report is a great excuse to drive the price down to accumulate. It doesn't have to be something that's real, as long as it's news, there will always be someone's stop loss MMs can hit to get them out of shares. Shake people's confidence, you accumulate, give them confidence, you can sell them in high. The market is 100% manipulated, 100% of the time. When you study and follow MMs intentions, you gain skill at trading with them, not trying to "make sense" of technicals, filings, CEOs and earnings, which are all simply "trade bait." Earnings are simply just another form of trade bait, play it that way, you can win. Happy trading!