Aubrey Wood, MTPC
Aubrey is the Head of Content at Stock Analysis. She holds a Master of Technical and Professional Communication (MTPC) degree, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing and Communication (PWC). Prior to Stock Analysis, she was an editorial director at Healthline Media and the Managing Editor of Authority Nutrition. Originally from the U.S., she lives in Iceland with her partner, toddler twins, Icelandic Sheepdog, and two horses.
Edited by Aubrey
Forward P/E Ratio
The forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is a valuation metric that compares a stock’s share price to its forecasted earnings per share. Here is a complete guide.
Market-to-Book Ratio
The market-to-book ratio is a metric that compares the price of a stock to its book value. It tells you the price the market is putting on the company's assets.
Marketable Securities
Marketable securities are short-term assets that can be sold quickly and converted into cash. Here is an overview including examples and how they're used in formulas.
Intangible Assets
Intangible assets are the non-physical resources that a company owns. Here is an overview, examples, and information on how to value intangibles.
Effective Tax Rate
The effective tax rate is the percentage of income a company or individual pays in taxes. Here's how it compares to the corporate income and marginal tax rates.
What Time Do Stock Markets Around the World Open and Close?
Stock market opening hours for the main stock exchanges in the US and globally. Includes a list of all scheduled US stock exchange holidays in 2022.
Gross Margin
Gross margin measures the percentage of revenue a company retains after deducting the costs of producing the goods or services it sells. Here's how to calculate it.
Working Capital
Working capital is a measure of a company’s liquidity, specifically its short-term financial health and whether it has the cash on hand for normal business operations.
Net Profit Margin
Net profit margin is a profitability metric that shows net income as a percent of revenue. Here's a complete guide, including how it compares to gross profit margin.
Types of Costs in Accounting
In accounting, costs are categorized to help analyze how well a business is generating profits from revenue. Here are the different types and how they're used.
Shares Outstanding
Shares outstanding is a financial number that represents all the shares of a company’s stock that shareholders currently own. Here's how to find and use it.
Debt-to-Equity (D/E) Ratio
The debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio shows how much debt, relative to equity, a company is using to finance its operations. This guide includes the formula and examples.
Free Cash Flow per Share
Free cash flow shows how much cash a company has left after paying to run its core business and maintain its capital assets. FCF per share is this amount, per share.
Dividend Payout Ratio
The dividend payout ratio shows how much of a company’s net income goes to paying dividends. Here is a complete overview including how to calculate and use it.
Corporate Income Tax
Here is a comprehensive overview of U.S. corporate income tax, including federal and state rates, how it works, how to calculate it, and historical trends.
Operating Expenditure (OpEx)
Operating expenditure (OpEx) accounts for the day-to-day expenses of a business. Here's a complete guide, including the formula and how it compares to CapEx.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue represents the total cost of making and delivering a service or product. It’s normally used for service companies in place of the cost of goods sold (COGS).
Pretax Income
Pretax income refers to total income before taxes are deducted. It's commonly known as income before taxes, pretax profit, or earnings before taxes.
Revenue Growth
Revenue growth is a term used to describe a company’s increase in revenue over a period of time, usually quarter-over-quarter or year-over-year.
Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A) Expenses
Selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses are a company’s overhead costs for its day-to-day operations. Here is the definition, formula, and examples.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization are two methods for expensing the cost of an asset over time. Here are detailed overviews of both, including their differences and formulas.
Operating Income
Operating income is the profit left after paying for all expenses related to a company's core operations. It is a commonly used measure of profitability.
Research and Development (R&D)
Research and development (R&D) represents a company’s efforts to develop new products or improve existing offerings. Here's why it matters and how the R&D tax credit works.
Trailing Twelve Months (TTM)
TTM is a financial term that stands for trailing twelve months. It represents a company's financial numbers over the past four quarters.
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
The Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) is the cost required to produce the goods a company sells. Here is a detailed definition, formula, uses, and downsides.
Earnings Per Share (EPS)
Earnings per share (EPS) is a commonly used number to describe a company's profitability. It represents the portion of earnings allocated to each share.
Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT)
Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) is a measure of a company’s earnings. Here are the uses and limitations of EBIT, as well as how to calculate it.
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA)
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) is a measure of a company’s earnings. Here's how to calculate and use EBITDA.
How Berkshire Hathaway's Class A and Class B Shares Are Different
Berkshire Hathaway has two different classes of stock. Class A shares have the ticker symbol BRK.A, but class B shares have the symbol BRK.B.
The 10 Best Safe and Low-Risk Investments
Investing can be risky, but there are also many investment options that have virtually zero risk. Here are the 10 best safe and low-risk investments.
Is It Really True That Almost No One Can Beat the Market?
The stock market is the market for buying and selling stocks. It consists of stock exchanges, indexes, investors, and speculators, to name a few.
Stocks vs. Bonds: Differences and Similarities
Stocks and bonds are two completely different types of investments. Stocks represent ownership in a business, while bonds represent money owed to the investor.
Can You Invest in YouTube Stock?
YouTube is the world’s biggest online video streaming platform with over 2 billion users. You can gain exposure to YouTube by investing in Alphabet stock.
ETF vs. Mutual Fund: What’s the Difference Between Them?
ETFs and mutual funds are the two most popular types of investment funds. They are similar in many ways, but also have some important differences.
What Happens If a Stock You Own Goes Bankrupt?
The stocks of companies that file for bankruptcy decline to zero or several pennies per share. Shareholders usually lose 100% of their investment.
How Did Warren Buffet Make so Much Money?
Warren Buffett is the world’s most famous investor and one of the richest people alive. But how did he make so much money?
What's The Difference Between Recessions and Depressions?
A recession is an economic decline that is a normal part of the business cycle. An economic depression is like a recession, except longer and more severe.
How to Short Stocks: A Beginner's Guide to Short Selling
Shorting is a way to bet against a stock and make a profit when the price goes down. Here's a simple beginner's guide to short selling.
Who Determines When a Recession Begins and Ends?
A recession is a broad decline in the economy that lasts for at least a few months. An organization called the NBER determines when recessions begin and end.
VOO vs. VTI: Which ETF Is a Better Investment?
VOO and VTI are two popular index funds from Vanguard. This article looks at the differences between them and explores which one is better to invest in.
What's The Difference Between Revenue and Income?
Revenue and income have different meanings. Revenue is the total amount of money received from sales, while income is what's left after paying all expenses.
What Does a Negative PE Ratio Mean for Stocks?
A negative PE ratio means that a stock has negative earnings. In other words, the company was unprofitable and lost money in the past 12 months.
How Does Facebook Really Make Money? 7 Main Ways
Facebook is free for users, but instead makes a lot of money from online advertising. Here are the 7 main ways that Facebook makes money.
What Do Stock Analyst Ratings Mean? Buy, Sell, Hold, and More
Stock analysts often use confusing terms to describe their buy, sell and hold ratings. Here are some quick explanations of what their ratings mean.
How Often Do Stocks Pay Dividends? And When?
Most dividend stocks pay out every three months. There are several important dates to be aware of regarding dividend payments.
Alphabet's GOOG vs. GOOGL Stock: What's The Difference?
Google parent company Alphabet Inc has two types of stocks that you can buy: GOOG and GOOGL. The main difference between them has to do with voting power.
What Are the Average Stock Market Returns by Month?
Some months have better average stock market returns than others. The stretch from November to May tends to be positive, while June to September is often flat.
How to Buy Stocks Online: 3 Simple Steps
It is incredibly easy to buy stocks on the internet these days. No matter which country you live in, you can easily buy stocks from all over the world.
What's The Best S&P500 ETF? SPY vs VOO vs IVV
According to the latest stats, 92% of professional fund managers are unable to beat the market. In this case, "the market" refers to the S&P500 index.
5 Ways That Stock Buybacks Can be Bad
Stock buybacks are the preferred method of many companies to return money to shareholders. This involves the companies buying back their own shares on the open market.
Why Stock Buybacks Are Good for Investors
Stock buybacks are a way for companies to return cash to shareholders, which is great for long-term investors for various reasons.
Where to Park Cash to Maximize Interest in Your Brokerage Account
Most brokerages pay little to no interest on the idle cash in your account. Here are several simple ways to put that money to work.
PEG Ratio: The Price/Earnings to Growth Ratio Explained
A negative PE ratio means that a stock has negative earnings. In other words, the company was unprofitable and lost money in the past 12 months.
Balance Sheet
A balance sheet is a financial statement that shows what a company owns (assets), what it owes (liabilities) and the difference between the two (equity).
Cash Flow Statement
The cash flow statement is a financial statement that shows how cash flows in and out of a company through operating, investing, and financing activities.
Dividend
A dividend is a cash payment that a company sends to investors who own its stock. Dividends are usually paid each quarter and deposited into brokerage accounts.
Enterprise Value
Enterprise value (EV) is the total value of a publicly-traded company, adjusted by the net cash or net debt position.
Free Cash Flow (FCF)
Free cash flow (FCF) is a measure of profitability that tells you how much cash a company has left after spending on maintaining and growing the business.
Gross Profit
Gross profit, also called gross income, is a company's profit after the cost of goods sold has been subtracted from the revenue.
Income Statement
The income statement shows how a company's revenue and expenses turn into profits or losses. Publicly traded companies release income statements every quarter.
Market Capitalization (Market Cap): Definition and Formula
Market capitalization is the total value of all of a company’s outstanding stock. It is calculated by multiplying the number of shares by the stock price.
Net Income
Net income is the amount of money left as profits after subtracting all expenses from the total revenue or gross income. It is also called earnings or profits.
Price-to-Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio)
The PE Ratio (Price-to-Earnings) is a commonly used valuation metric for stocks. It is calculated by dividing the stock price with the earnings per share.
Revenue
Revenue is the money that a company gets from its business activities. Unlike profits, revenue does not take any expenses into account.
Return on Equity (ROE)
Return on equity (ROE) is a financial ratio that is calculated by dividing net income by shareholders' equity. It is a commonly used measure of profitability.
YoY (Year-Over-Year)
YoY stands for year-over-year, which is a way of measuring how a number has changed compared to the same period a year earlier.