Profitability
Revenue
Revenue is the top line: what customers paid the company during the period.
Every margin, every P/S ratio, and most growth stories start from revenue. It is the least adjustable of the headline numbers, though recognition timing still matters. Trailing twelve-month revenue smooths a single seasonal quarter. Year-on-year growth tells you whether the customer base is expanding.
Growth without a margin is a larger business, not automatically a more valuable one. Pair revenue growth with gross margin and free cash flow. A company can grow sales by cutting price until the incremental sale destroys value. The top line will not warn you by itself.
Formula
Revenue = the value of goods and services sold in the period, before costs
Live example
Apple Inc. (AAPL) last printed at $345.33 with a market cap of $5.04T. Market cap is the equity value you see above. Enterprise value would add net debt, which this quote row does not itemize.
Related
Gross Margin · Price to Sales · EV/Sales
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Questions
Is revenue the same as sales?
In most operating companies, yes. Financial firms report net interest income and fees instead of a simple sales line. Do not force one template onto a bank.
Why look at TTM revenue?
Four quarters include a full seasonal cycle. A single quarter compared with the wrong seasonal base produces fake growth.