The Income Statement and Fundamental Analysis
A company’s income statement is a record of its earnings or losses for a given time period. It shows the revenues and expenses for the company for this time period. The income statement is the one of the three primary financial statements, the others being the balance sheet and the statement of cash flows. In analyzing company fundamentals, the income statement provides an indication to investors of how well the company is performing.
A Gauge of Fundamental Strength
The Income Statement may apply to a three-month fiscal quarter or to a fiscal year, providing a measuring stick of profitability for that time period. Generally speaking, companies ought to be able to bring in more money than they spend in order to be successful. Companies that demonstrate low expenses relative to revenue and/or high profits relative to revenue display fundamental strength to investors.
What Investors Can Learn
To savvy investors, though, the income statement may reveal more than the company’s earnings as it provides insights into the company’s management of expenses, interest income and expenses and tax information. Through income statement analysis, investors can compare a company’s profits to its competitors by examining the various profit margins and determine the rate of return the business is earning on retained earnings and company assets.
Parts of the Income Statement
The income statement is divided into two sections: the operating and non-operating sections.
Operating items: Reports information regarding revenues and expenses that result directly from regular business operations.
Non-operating items: Reports revenue and expense information regarding activities not directly tied to regular operations.
The income statement can reveal a lot about the operations of an organization. In analyzing the information, investors often measure the rate of change for key items, and calculate ratios comparative ratios from the data.
More about the Income Statement and Fundamental Analysis
________________________________________________________________
The above information is educational and should not be interpreted as financial advice. For advice that is specific to your circumstances, you should consult a financial or tax advisor.
Recent Posts
- How to Calculate a Stock Market Profit
- Three Basic Financial Concepts for Investors
- Understand an Calculate the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
- Calculate Your Retirement Savings Requirements
- The Basics of Stock Market Futures Trading
- How to Calculate Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
- How to Calculate Earnings per Share
- What the Par Value of a Stock Means
- Bond Value Calculator
- Some Basic Forex Trading Tips
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.