What is an 8-K?
Form 8-K is a US public company's "current report" to the SEC. Between its annual 10-K and quarterly 10-Q, a company files an 8-K to announce major events shareholders should know about. Most must be filed within four business days.[S4]
Each kind of event has a numbered item, such as Item 5.02 for a change of top officers. One 8-K can cover several items at once.[S3]
This guide explains the item numbers, then walks through one real 8-K: the one Adobe filed on Apr 21, 2026.[S1]
How does the four-business-day deadline work?
The general rule is four business days after the event. For an event on a weekend or an SEC holiday, the count starts on the next business day.[S3]
Some items have their own clock:
- Item 5.07 (shareholder votes): the four days start from the day the meeting ended. A company may first report preliminary results. It must then file an amended 8-K within four business days after the final results are known.[S3]
- Item 7.01 (Regulation FD): Regulation FD is the SEC rule against sharing important news with only some investors. An 8-K furnished only to meet it can be due earlier.[S4]
Adobe's annual meeting was on Wednesday, Apr 15, 2026. Its 8-K was filed on Tuesday, Apr 21, 2026: four business days later (Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday).[S5]
Which item numbers come up most often?
The form groups its items into sections, from the business itself to exhibits. These are the ones readers meet most, with the form's own titles.[S3]
- Item 1.01, Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement: a material contract made outside the normal course of business. Material means important enough to matter to shareholders.
- Item 2.02, Results of Operations and Financial Condition: the quarterly earnings release, attached as an exhibit. Our guide to reading a US earnings release walks through one.
- Item 4.01, Changes in Registrant's Certifying Accountant: the outside auditor resigned, was dismissed or declined to stand again. It also covers hiring a new one.
- Item 5.02, Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers: board and top-job changes, and pay plans for top officers.
- Item 5.07, Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders: the results of a shareholder vote.
- Item 7.01, Regulation FD Disclosure: information the company chooses to make public through the 8-K under Regulation FD.
- Item 8.01, Other Events: an optional item for any event the company "deems of importance to security holders".
- Item 9.01, Financial Statements and Exhibits: the list of documents attached to the 8-K.
Information under Items 2.02 and 7.01 is "furnished", not "filed". That means it is not deemed filed for Section 18 of the Exchange Act unless the company says so.[S3]
What does the cover page of Adobe's 8-K tell you?
In the filing · Cover page
Date of Report (date of earliest event reported) April 15, 2026[S1]
This is the date of the first event in the report, not the filing date. Here it is the day of Adobe's 2026 annual meeting of stockholders.
In the filing · EDGAR filing index page
Filing Date; Period of Report; Items 2026-04-21; 2026-04-15; Items 5.02, 5.07, 8.01 and 9.01[S5]
EDGAR, the SEC's filing system, shows the items on each filing's index page. It is a quick way to see what an 8-K is about before opening it.
What did Adobe report under Item 5.02?
In the filing · Item 5.02, paragraph (e)
Item 5.02(e): Amendment and Restatement of 2019 Equity Incentive Plan Available share reserve increased by 12 million shares[S1]
An equity incentive plan sets aside shares a company can grant as pay. Stockholders approved the change at the Apr 15, 2026 meeting, and the plan's text is attached as Exhibit 10.1.
Item 5.02 is best known for officer and director changes. Its paragraph (e) also covers material pay plans for the chief executive, the chief financial officer or another named executive officer.[S3]
How do you read the vote tables under Item 5.07?
Item 5.07 must give, for each matter, the votes for, against or withheld, plus abstentions and broker non-votes. Director elections need a separate count for each nominee.[S3]
A broker non-vote is a share held through a broker that the broker could not vote, because the owner gave no instructions and the matter was not routine. Adobe's proxy says brokers may vote such shares on "routine" matters but not on non-routine ones.[S6]
In the filing · Item 5.07, table 1
Proposal 1: election of directors (first of eleven rows, Cristiano Amon) For 282,005,411; Against 12,079,030; Abstentions 434,301; Broker non-votes 41,927,404[S1]
Each nominee has a row of their own. Adobe's proxy says only "for" and "against" votes count in tabulating the director election results.
In the filing · Item 5.07, table 3
Proposal 3: ratify KPMG LLP as auditor for the fiscal year ending Nov 27, 2026 For 304,073,299; Against 31,540,619; Abstentions 832,228[S1]
This table has no broker non-votes column. The proxy calls the auditor vote a routine matter, so brokers could vote shares without instructions.
In the filing · Item 5.07, table 4
Proposal 4: approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of named executive officers For 148,837,167; Against 144,993,886; Abstentions 687,689; Broker non-votes 41,927,404[S1]
This is the "say on pay" vote. Adobe's proxy says the outcome of this advisory vote is not binding on the company or its board.
The 8-K says stockholders approved proposals one through four. They did not approve proposals five through eight, which were stockholder proposals.[S1] Our guide to reading a proxy statement shows where each proposal is first described.
What did Adobe add under Item 8.01?
In the filing · Item 8.01, first paragraph
Item 8.01: new stock repurchase program Up to $25 billion in common stock through April 30, 2030[S1]
A repurchase, or buyback, is a company buying its own shares. The 8-K says Adobe "has no obligation to repurchase any amount" under the program.
The same item says timing and amounts depend on factors such as market conditions and Adobe's capital needs. The press release with the news is attached as Exhibit 99.1.[S1] [S2]
An 8-K announces a program like this. Each 10-Q then reports the shares actually repurchased, month by month, in Part II, Item 2.[S7]
Stock pages on Cityfort show each company's most recent buyback, with the filing it comes from.
See it in real companies
Latest share buyback on the page at companies on Cityfort
67 companies on Cityfort, listed A–Z (not ranked).
- AbbVie
- $1.1BSep 30, 2026 · Bought 5 million shares for $1.1 billion in the first nine months of 2026; about $1.8 billion of authorization remained at Sep 30, 2026. · source S4
- Adobe
- $6.8BAug 28, 2026 · Repurchased $6.82 billion in the first nine months of FY2026; 26.1 million shares were delivered. · source S13, S6
- AMD
- $221MJun 27, 2026 · Repurchased 1.1 million shares in the first half of FY2026, none in Q2; $9.2 billion of the program remained. · source S7
- Apple
- $61.8BJun 27, 2026 · Repurchased 215 million shares in the first nine months of FY2026 for $61.8 billion. · source S6
- Berkshire Hathaway
- $4.8BJun 30, 2026 · First half of 2026: 511 Class A and 9,029,655 Class B shares, after buybacks restarted on Mar 4, 2026. · source S6, S24
- Booking Holdings
- $9.9BSep 30, 2026 · Repurchases of common stock in the first nine months of 2026 · source S8
- Caterpillar
- $7.7BSep 30, 2026 · Common stock repurchased in the first nine months of FY2026, including accelerated agreements, so cash spent and shares received differ by quarter. · source S13, S6
- Chevron
- $8.1BSep 30, 2026 · Shares repurchased in the first nine months of FY2026, excluding excise tax · source S6
- Chipotle
- $1.5BSep 30, 2026 · Bought back $1.5 billion of common stock in the first nine months of 2026, of which $110.0 million in Q3. · source S7
- Cisco
- $6.1BJul 25, 2026 · Shares repurchased under the program during FY2026 (cash paid). · source S1
- Coca-Cola
- $787MOct 2, 2026 · First nine months of FY2026: bought back 10.0 million shares at an average of $78.77. · source S14
- Comcast
- $2.2BSep 30, 2026 · 76 million Class A shares repurchased under the program in the nine months to Sep 30, 2026, none in Q3; the program is suspended until the planned NBCUniversal spin-off. · source S6
- CrowdStrike
- $176MJul 31, 2026 · Repurchases were $175.6 million in the first half of FY2027, none in Q2. · source S7, S5
- CVS Health
- $3.0BDec 31, 2024 · FY2024: paid $3.0 billion for its own shares. · source S1
- Dell
- $5.4BJul 31, 2026 · Shares repurchased in the first half of FY2027 (cash paid), about 20 million shares. · source S6, S35
And 43 more companies on Cityfort; each stock page shows it in context.
From each company's filings, as cited on its Cityfort stock page. These figures change when a stock page is updated.
What is in Item 9.01?
In the filing · Item 9.01, exhibit table
Item 9.01(d): Exhibits 10.1 (2019 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended); 99.1 (press release of April 21, 2026); 104 (cover page interactive data file)[S1]
Exhibits are the full documents behind the short items. The plan text backs Item 5.02 and the press release backs Item 8.01.
What does an 8-K leave out?
- Full financial statements. An 8-K reports events; the company's quarterly and annual statements come in the 10-Q and 10-K.[S4]
- Events the company does not report. Item 8.01 is optional. What goes in depends on what the company considers important to shareholders.[S3]
- Filed status for some items. Items 2.02 and 7.01 are furnished, not filed, unless the company says otherwise.[S3]
- Missed events, until a later 10-Q. An event that needed an 8-K but got none must be disclosed in the 10-Q for the quarter in which it happened, under Part II, Item 5.[S7]
Where do you find a company's 8-Ks?
Every 8-K is on EDGAR, listed with the company's other filings. The index page of each filing shows its filing date and items.[S5]
Cityfort's Adobe stock page cites this 8-K for the new repurchase program and the 2026 annual meeting votes.