Non-GAAP metrics are company-defined financial measures — adjusted EBITDA, adjusted earnings, free cash flow — presented alongside standardized GAAP figures to show performance "as management sees it." They can clarify underlying trends or, misused, flatter a weak quarter, which is why the SEC requires reconciliation to GAAP and scrutinizes their prominence. How a company frames non-GAAP numbers in its release and on its call is a consequential IR messaging choice with compliance stakes.