Guide · Updated Oct 23, 2026
Why restated numbers change a company’s history
A restatement corrects figures a company has already published. Growth rates built from mixed filings can point in the wrong direction.
A company restates its financials when it finds that figures it already published were wrong, or when a change in accounting rules or a reclassification means the old numbers are no longer comparable. The restated figures appear in a later filing, and the original ones are not updated in place.
Why it matters for analysis
Most growth and trend calculations take one year from one filing and another year from a different filing. If the second filing restated the first year, the growth rate mixes two different versions of the same business.
Worked example
Example Co. first reported FY2024 revenue of 5,000. A later filing restated FY2024 to 4,850 after reclassifying a division it had sold. Its FY2025 revenue is 5,400 in the latest filing.
Growth calculation | Revenue, FY2024 | Revenue, FY2025 | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
Original FY2024 vs FY2025 | 5,000 | 5,400 | 8.0% |
Restated FY2024 vs FY2025 | 4,850 | 5,400 | 11.3% |
Neither line is wrong in isolation. The difference is that the restated comparison compares like with like: the same division in both years.
What to check
- Find the filing each figure came from, and whether a later filing restated it.
- Look for the words “restated”, “reclassified” or “re-presented” in the notes to the accounts.
- When a company changes its reporting standard, compare its figures only with versions prepared on the same basis.