Run 03 · Markets & Capital · field test
Filings: the SEC's own wire, and the revenue tag Apple stopped using
We read Apple through the desk's relay and the SEC's feed, tried to misuse the relay, and set the desk beside EDGAR search, SECForm4.com and Stock Analysis.
Brief
What it is, and who it is for
Filings is a desk for any company registered with the SEC. Find it by ticker or name and the page lists its filings straight from the commission, each document linked and filterable by form; it draws ten years of audited revenue, net income, assets and equity from the 10-K XBRL facts; and it opens an insider desk built from the SEC's quarterly Form 4 data set.
It suits investors, students and reporters who want the SEC as the only source.
Wiring
Where the work happens
The ledger is fetched by the browser from data.sec.gov/submissions, which allows cross-origin reads. The XBRL company-concept API does not, so the four charts pass through filings/relay.php: it accepts one shape of path, sends the declared User-Agent the SEC's fair-access policy asks for, and caches for six hours. Documents on www.sec.gov are linked, never fetched. Ticker search runs on a shipped copy of the SEC's ticker map (10,391 rows), so what you type stays on the page.
Sources it reads
- data.sec.gov submissions JSON, per company — browser-direct.
- data.sec.gov XBRL company-concept API, us-gaap facts — through the relay.
- SEC company_tickers.json and the DERA Insider Transactions Data Set (Form 4, 2026 Q2) — both shipped with the page; filing documents on www.sec.gov are linked only.
Run table
The run, row by row
| # | Time | Probe | Returned |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Loaded /filings/ from the local copy | HTTP 200, 42,749 bytes. Shipped packs: tickers 442,667 bytes; insider 4,519,120 bytes. | |
| 02 | Relay: Apple, us-gaap Revenues | HTTP 200 in 0.09 s. 11 facts; 10-K full-year values for FY2018 only. | |
| 03 | Relay: Apple, RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax | HTTP 200 in 0.07 s. 117 facts; full years FY2019–FY2025. | |
| 04 | Relay: asked for a submissions path instead | HTTP 400 — only company-concept paths pass. | |
| 05 | SEC submissions feed for Apple, sent with an Origin header | HTTP 200 with an open CORS header; 1,000 filings in the recent block, newest a Form 4 filed 24 Sep 2026. | |
| 06 | Read EDGAR Full Text Searchrival page | Full text since 2001; filters for entity, form, dates and location; CSV export. | |
| 07 | Read SECForm4.comrival page | Says filings update in real time; insider lists, 13D/13G coverage, screeners. | |
| 08 | Read Stock Analysis, Apple financialsrival page | FY2021–FY2025 plus TTM; annual, quarterly and TTM views; data credited to S&P Global Market Intelligence. |
Findings
The lengths it goes to
- It checks the answer, not only the status code. Apple's
Revenuesconcept is valid but abandoned — our read found FY2018 alone — so when a series is thinner than three years the page fetches the alternate revenue tag and draws the fuller one.evidence · filings.js 239–250; run rows 02–03 - Charts keep only full-year duration facts filed on 10-Ks, discarding the quarterly facts that also sit inside annual reports.evidence · filings.js 265–273
- The relay is a single-purpose allowlist that names itself to the SEC; our attempt to route anything else through it was refused.evidence · relay.php 13–19, 27; run row 04
- Ticker search is local: names you type are not sent anywhere.evidence · filings.js 64–75
- The insider desk is stamped with its data set and quarter rather than dressed up as live, and if the relay is missing the chart block becomes one honest sentence instead of four broken charts.evidence · filings-insider.js header; filings.js 214–238
Against the field
Set beside 3 rivals
SEC EDGAR Full Text Search
The SEC's own search across the words of electronic filings, with filters and CSV export of results.
Where it is ahead
- It searches inside filings, which the desk cannot do.
- Coverage since 2001 with date, location and form filters.
Where Filings goes further
- Ten years of audited figures on the company page, with the right revenue tag chosen.
- Ledger, charts and the quarter's insider rows on one desk.
SECForm4.com
An insider-trading and institutional-holdings tracker built on Form 4 and Schedule 13D/13G filings.
Where it is ahead
- Insider filings as they are filed, not a quarterly pack.
- Institutional holdings, 13D/13G and screeners across the market.
Where Filings goes further
- Every figure is the SEC's, with the data set and quarter named.
- Documents linked to the SEC archive, audited figures beside the insider rows.
Stock Analysis — company financials
Financial statements per company with annual, quarterly and trailing-twelve-month views.
Where it is ahead
- Far more line items, quarterly and TTM views, growth rates.
- By its own account, updates within hours of each earnings release.
Where Filings goes further
- Audited facts read from the SEC's XBRL API itself, not a commercial vendor, with the tag named.
- Apple's revenue drawn for FY2019–FY2025 from the tag it actually files under, against FY2021 onwards on the Stock Analysis page.
Faults
Where it falls short
- The insider desk is a quarterly snapshot (2026 Q2 in build 537), not live — SECForm4.com says it updates in real time.
- The ledger reads only the 'recent' block — 1,000 filings for Apple — and lists older archives without loading them.
- Four concepts only: revenue, net income, assets and equity. No cash flow, ratios or quarterly figures.
- No search inside filings; EDGAR's own search does that.
Sign-off
Log closed at
- Held up
- Every relay answer matched the code's description, and Apple's data held exactly the abandoned tag the check was written for.
- Fell short
- Insider data a quarter old; four concepts; no full-text search.
- Reach for it when
- You want a company's SEC ledger and audited headline figures with the SEC as the only source.
- Look elsewhere when
- You want today's insider trades (SECForm4.com), words inside filings (EDGAR) or full statements (Stock Analysis).