Underflow/overflow detection prior to normalization

Methods and apparatuses for generating a condition code for a floating point number operation prior to normalization. A processor receives an intermediate result for an operation, wherein the intermediate result comprises an intermediate significand and an intermediate exponent. A processor determines a mask based on the value of the intermediate exponent. A processor generates a masked significand by applying the mask to the intermediate significand. A processor generates a condition code based on the masked significand having a predetermined value.