CVS

Of every 100 units of revenue, this much survives as profit.

Thin margins leave little room for a bad year — typical of retail and airlines.

Profit from operations, before interest and tax, per 100 of revenue.

Little cushion between operating costs and revenue.

What is left of revenue after only the direct cost of the product.

Costs of goods eat most of the revenue — normal in retail, distribution and hardware assembly.

Profit generated per unit of shareholder capital.

Below about 10% the business is not doing much with the money invested in it.

Profit generated per unit of everything the company owns.

Common in asset-heavy industries such as utilities, telecoms and airlines.

Borrowings measured against shareholder capital.

Normal for most established companies.

Short-term assets against short-term obligations.

Below 1 the company owes more within a year than it holds — workable if customers pay up front, risky otherwise.

Short-term assets excluding inventory, against short-term debts.

Near-term obligations are roughly covered without selling inventory.

Change in revenue against the same period last year.

A healthy expansion rate.

Change in earnings against the same period last year.

Check whether it is repeatable or a one-off — a single asset sale can flatter this badly.

The share of earnings paid out as dividends.

Most of the profit goes out of the door, leaving less to reinvest.

Return earned per unit of risk taken.

Below 1 is the common case; return did not strongly outpace the volatility.

The share of trading days that closed higher.

Close to a coin flip, which is the norm — returns come from the size of moves, not their count.

You pay 22.44 for every 1 unit of annual earnings.

Roughly the long-run market average band.

Price against next year's *forecast* earnings.

The market expects little growth, or doubts the forecast.

P/E divided by the growth rate — it asks whether the price is justified by the growth.

Under 1 is the classic Peter Lynch marker for growth you are not paying full price for.

Price against the accounting value of the company's net assets.

A typical range for an established company.

Price against revenue — usable when a company has no profit yet.

You pay less than a unit of price per unit of sales.

Whole-company value, debt included, against cash earnings.

A conventional range.

Annual dividend as a percentage of the share price.

A substantial part of the total return arrives as income.

A 0–100 momentum gauge over the last 14 sessions.

Below 30 conventionally reads as oversold, and traders watch for a bounce — a convention, not a law.

Trend strength, regardless of direction.

Above 25 is conventionally read as a genuine trend in force.

How far the price typically swings over a year.

A typical range for an individual share.

How much the price moves relative to the wider market.

Tends to move less than the index, in both directions.

The worst peak-to-trough fall in the period measured.

A fall this deep needs roughly a doubling to recover.

How far the mean analyst target sits above today's price.

A wide gap, which as often means the price has fallen as that the target is right.