earnings

Earnings

Net income for the company during a period.

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Earnings

A company's total revenue less its operating expenses, interest paid, depreciation, and taxes. For example, suppose a widget manufacturer makes $1,000,000 in total revenue. The widgets cost $200,000 to make and his administrative and payroll expenses total $250,000. He also must subtract $50,000 in depreciation on his widget manufacturing equipment and pay $200,000 in taxes. His earnings are stated as: $1,000,000 - $200,000 - $250,000 - $50,000 - $200,000 = $300,000.

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earnings

The income of a business. Earnings usually refers to aftertax income but may occasionally be used synonymously with pretax income or even revenues.

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Earnings.

Corporate earnings are a company's profits after expenses have been paid. Earnings history is one of the key indicators that fundamental analysts use to evaluate a company.

However, there are several ways to report earnings. The broadest is reported earnings, which is defined by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Others include pro forma earnings, EBITDA, free cash flow, and core earnings. Each method produces different results because of the data that is included in the calculation.

The variations make it difficult to make meaningful comparisons among the earnings of different companies, an issue that Standard & Poor's was addressing in developing the concept of core earnings.

Your earnings, on the other hand, include salary and other compensation for work you do, as well as income from assets you own, such as interest, dividends, and capital gains.

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earnings

see EARNED INCOME.

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earnings

the returns accruing to FACTORS OF PRODUCTION, such as WAGES, SALARIES, FEES and COMMISSIONS, PROFITS, RENTS, DIVIDENDS and INTEREST payments. Pay received by EMPLOYEES in the form of wages, salaries, fees and commissions is the biggest component of earnings. The UK's New Earnings Survey provides data on the earnings of full-time employees. For 2004, the Survey estimated average gross weekly earnings of full-time employees to be around £492. Take-home pay, of course, is lower than this as a result of DIRECT TAXATION (INCOME TAX, NATIONAL INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS).

Collins Dictionary of Economics, 4th ed. © C. Pass, B. Lowes, L. Davies 2005