Profitability ratios

Profitability ratios

Ratios that focus on how well a firm is performing. Profit margins measure performance with relation to sales. Rate of return ratios measure performance relative to some measure of size of the investment.

Profitability Ratio

Any ratio that measures a company's ability to generate cash flow relative to some metric, often the amount invested in the company. Profitability ratios are useful in fundamental analysis which investigates the financial health of companies. An example of a profitability ratio is the return on investment which is the amount of revenue an investment generates as a percentage of the amount of capital invested over a given period of time. Other examples include return on sales, return on equity, and return on common stock equity.