numberposts is not working for me

<?php
// args
$args = array(
	'numberposts' => 3,
	'post_type' => 'earnings',
	'meta_key' => 'article_category',
	'meta_value' => 'Immediately Actionable'
);
// get results
$the_query = new WP_Query( $args );
// The Loop
?>
<?php if( $the_query->have_posts() ): ?>
	<ul class="frontnewsul">
	<?php while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post(); ?>
		<li class="frontnewsli">
			<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><div class="stksymnewshdln"><?php the_field('symbol'); ?></div><span class="frontnewslink"><?php the_title(); ?></span></a>
		</li>
	<?php endwhile; ?>
	</ul>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php wp_reset_query();  // Restore global post data stomped by the_post(). ?>

The number of posts that is shown is ALL of them, rather than the 3 that I would like. Can anybody help out on this? I have this snippet of code on the front page. There are other loops going on in the front-page, not sure if that has anything to do with it.