But sometimes analysts do include gains for extraordinary items.
Adjusted for certain items, earnings for the quarter were 68 cents a share.
Adjusted for special items and one-time gains, earnings fell to 31 cents a share, from 32 cents.
Adjusted for special items in each period, the profit rose to 66 cents a share from 53 cents.
Adjusted for special items, the company earned $1.40 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.35, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
AOL Time Warner, in putting out its earnings this week, warned that because of the rules, its financial results "have not been adjusted for items that may affect their comparability, including items such as merger and restructuring charges".
Adjusted for one-time items, it earned $600,000 in the quarter ended May 31.
Adjusted for one-time items, Citi's earnings were slightly higher, at $3.26 billion, or $1.02 a share.
Shell's second-quarter income, adjusted for one-time items, was $4.6 billion, compared with $5.7 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Fourth quarter profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes totalled $196 million in 2015, compared to $2.24 billion a year earlier.
