Glossary · Metrics
Metrics glossary
Every number on the screener and on a company page (51 entries): what it means, the formula we use, and the XBRL line items we read from the company's SEC filings, in the order we try them. On a company page, hover or tap a number to see the line item and the filing it actually came from.
Size and price
Shares outstanding
How many shares exist. Market cap and every per-share number divide by it.
Cover-page share count of the latest filing
Employees
How many people the company employs, as it says in the Human Capital part of its 10-K.
The number in the 10-K's sentence about employees, quoted on the company page
Income
Sales (revenue)
Money from selling the company's products and services, before any costs.
Revenue of the last twelve months
Net income
Profit after every cost, interest and tax: the bottom line.
Net income of the last twelve months
EPS
Net income per share, counting the shares that options and convertibles could add (diluted).
Diluted EPS of the last twelve months
EBITDA
Operating profit before the cost of wearing out equipment and intangibles. A non-GAAP measure: companies define their own, often with more items added back, so theirs can differ from this one.
Operating income + depreciation and amortization
Operating cash flow
Cash the business itself brought in, before investing and financing. It differs from net income because of non-cash items and timing.
Net cash from operating activities, last twelve months
Free cash flow
Cash left from operations after paying for equipment and buildings. Not a GAAP measure.
Operating cash flow − capital spending, last twelve months
Margins and returns
Gross margin
The share of revenue left after the direct cost of what was sold.
Gross profit ÷ revenue
Operating margin
The share of revenue left after running the business, before interest and tax.
Operating income ÷ revenue
Net margin
The share of revenue that ends up as profit.
Net income ÷ revenue
EBITDA margin
EBITDA as a share of revenue.
EBITDA ÷ revenue
FCF margin
Free cash flow as a share of revenue.
(Operating cash flow − capital spending) ÷ revenue, last twelve months
R&D / sales
Research and development spending as a share of revenue.
R&D expense ÷ revenue
Stock pay / sales
Pay in shares and options as a share of revenue. It is a real cost to shareholders even though no cash leaves.
Stock-based compensation ÷ revenue
Tax rate
Income tax as a share of pretax profit. It differs from the legal rate because of credits, foreign income and one-off items.
Income tax ÷ pretax income
ROE
Profit for each dollar of shareholders' money in the company.
Net income (last twelve months) ÷ shareholders' equity
ROA
Profit for each dollar of assets.
Net income (last twelve months) ÷ total assets
ROIC
Operating profit after tax for each dollar that lenders and shareholders put in.
Operating income × (1 − tax rate) ÷ (total debt + shareholders' equity)
ROE over 3, 5 and 10 years
How much profit the company made on shareholders' money, year after year, instead of in one year.
Each fiscal year: net income ÷ equity at that year end. Then the plain average of the last 3, 5 or 10 years, and the lowest of the last 5.
ROIC over 3, 5 and 10 years
Operating profit after tax on the money lenders and shareholders put in, over several years.
Each fiscal year: operating income × (1 − that year's tax rate) ÷ (total debt + equity at that year end). Then the plain average of the last 3, 5 or 10 years, and the lowest of the last 5.
Growth
Sales growth
How much revenue grew in the last fiscal year.
Revenue this fiscal year ÷ the year before − 1
Sales Q/Q
Revenue of the latest quarter against the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue of the latest three months ÷ the same three months a year earlier − 1
EPS growth
How much diluted EPS grew in the last fiscal year.
Diluted EPS this fiscal year ÷ the year before − 1
Net income growth
How much net income grew in the last fiscal year.
Net income this fiscal year ÷ the year before − 1
Sales growth over 3 and 5 years
The steady yearly growth that would take revenue from its level three (or five) fiscal years ago to today's.
(Revenue now ÷ revenue N years ago) ^ (1 / years) − 1
EPS growth over 3 and 5 years
The steady yearly growth that would take diluted EPS from three (or five) fiscal years ago to today's.
(EPS now ÷ EPS N years ago) ^ (1 / years) − 1
Shares Y/Y
How the diluted share count changed in a year. Down: buybacks. Up: new shares, often from stock pay or deals.
Diluted weighted-average shares this fiscal year ÷ the year before − 1
Valuation
Dividend per share
Dividends declared for one share over the last fiscal year.
Dividends per share declared (or paid) in the fiscal year
Payout ratio
The share of profit paid out as dividends.
Dividend per share ÷ diluted EPS
Book, cash and sales per share
Shareholders' equity, cash and revenue (last twelve months) divided over the shares outstanding.
Equity (or cash, or revenue) ÷ shares outstanding
Years of dividend increases
How many fiscal years in a row, up to the latest, the dividend per share was higher than the year before.
Counted back from the latest fiscal year until a year with no increase
Dividend growth over 5 years
The steady yearly growth that would take the dividend per share from five fiscal years ago to the latest.
(Dividend per share now ÷ five years ago) ^ (1 / years) − 1
Balance sheet
Cash
Cash and money-market type holdings the company can use right away.
Cash and cash equivalents
Total debt
Borrowed money the company owes: bonds, loans and commercial paper.
Long-term debt (with its current part) + short-term borrowings
Net debt
Debt minus cash. Negative means more cash than debt.
Total debt − cash
Equity
Assets minus liabilities: what the balance sheet says belongs to shareholders.
Total stockholders' equity
Assets
Everything the company owns or is owed, at balance-sheet value.
Total assets
Debt/Equity
Borrowed money for each dollar of shareholders' money.
Total debt ÷ shareholders' equity
Current ratio
What the company owns that turns into cash within a year, against what it must pay within a year.
Current assets ÷ current liabilities
Quick ratio
The current ratio without inventory, which may take longest to turn into cash.
(Current assets − inventory) ÷ current liabilities
Interest cover
How many times operating profit pays the year's interest.
Operating income ÷ interest expense
Net debt / EBITDA
How many years of operating earnings (before depreciation) it would take to pay off the net debt.
(Total debt − cash) ÷ EBITDA of the last fiscal year
Debt / capital
The share of the money in the business that was borrowed.
Total debt ÷ (total debt + shareholders' equity)
Long-term debt / equity
Long-term borrowings for each dollar of shareholders' money.
Long-term debt ÷ shareholders' equity
Efficiency
Asset turnover
Revenue for each dollar of assets.
Revenue of the last twelve months ÷ total assets
Inventory turns
How many times a year the inventory is sold and replaced.
Cost of revenue (last fiscal year) ÷ latest inventory
Days sales outstanding
About how many days customers take to pay. Rising fast can mean customers pay later, or looser terms to win sales.
Receivables ÷ revenue × 365
Sales per employee
Revenue for each person employed.
Revenue of the last twelve months ÷ employees in the latest 10-K
Short interest
Filing terms such as "going concern" are in the glossary. How every finding is made: methodology.