By SEAN ROSS

Reviewed by CHARLENE RHINEHART

编写人：SEAN ROSS

审核人：CHARLENE RHINEHART

What Is the Difference Between Profit and Earnings?

Profit和Earnings的区别是什么？

Profits and earnings are often used interchangeably, but they are different. Overall, these terms are primarily differentiated by the adjectives that precede them. For example, net earnings, or gross profit. The term earnings is most commonly used when discussing the bottom line of a company’s income statement. The term profit is commonly associated with the three most important points on the income statement: gross profit, operating profit, and net profit. These items reflect a company’s operational efficiency.

“Profit”和“Earnings”经常互换使用，但是含义却不同。总体而言，这两个词主要是通过前面的形容词来区分，比如，net earnings（净收益），gross profit（总利润）。“Earnings”最常出现在公司损益表的底部，而“Profit”通常与损益表中最重要的三个方面相关，即gross profit（总利润）、operating profit（营业利润）和net profit（净利润），它们反映的是公司的运营效率。

KEY TAKEAWAYS

关键要点

·Profits and earnings are often used interchangeably, but they reflect different items found in the financial statements.

“Profit”和“Earnings”经常互换使用，但反映的却是财务报表中不同的项目。

·Gross profit, operating profit, and net profit are three main measures analysts evaluate on an income statement.

分析师评估损益表的三个主要指标分别是gross profit（总利润）、operating profit（营业利润）和net profit（净利润）。

·The net earnings are found on the bottom line of an income statement.

Net earnings（净收益）位于损益表的底部。

·Net earnings show the total earnings a company has achieved after subtracting all expenses. 

Net earnings（净收益）表示公司在扣除所有费用后获得的总收入。

·The net earnings value carries over into the balance sheet and cash flow statement for a company’s reporting period.

Net earnings（净收益）结转至公司某一报告期的资产负债表和现金流量表。

Understanding Profit and Earnings

了解Profit和Earnings

The term profit may more commonly be associated with the three most important points on the income statement. These items provide checkpoints for a company’s operational efficiency and are the gross profit, operating profit, and net profit. The term earnings can be used interchangeably for any of these measures, but, typically, profit is more commonly associated with the ratio calculations of gross profit margin, operating profit margin, and net profit margin.

“Profit”更常与损益表中最重要的三个方面相关，分别是gross profit（总利润）、operating profit（营业利润）和net profit（净利润），反映的是公司的运营效率。对于这些衡量指标而言，“Earnings”可与“Profit”互换使用，但是，通常来说，“Profit”更常与gross profit margin（毛利率）、operating profit margin（营业利润率）和net profit margin（净利润率）等比率计算相关。

Profit

The gross profit margin, operating profit margin, and net profit margin are three key profit measures. Analysts use these data to analyze a company’s income statement and operating activities. The adjectives "gross," "operating," and "net" describe three distinctly different profit measures that help to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a company.

衡量利润的三大关键指标分别是gross profit margin（毛利率）、operating profit margin（营业利润率）和net profit margin（净利润率）。分析师通过这些数据对公司的损益表和经营活动进行分析。这三种截然不同的利润衡量指标有助于确定公司的优势和劣势。

Gross Profit

Gross profit, which is used to calculate gross profit margin, is a measure that analyzes a company’s cost of sales efficiency. The costs of sales figures include only direct expenses involved in generating a company’s products. The higher the gross profit and gross profit margin, the more efficiently a company is creating the core products that build its business.

用于计算gross profit margin（毛利率），是一项分析公司销售效率成本的指标。销售数据的成本仅包括生产公司产品涉及的直接费用。如果gross profit（总利润）和gross profit margin（毛利率）越高，公司创造其业务核心产品的效率就越高。

Operating Profit

Operating profit is an analysis of a company’s indirect costs. Operating profit is in the second section of an income statement. The operating profit is calculated by subtracting all of a company’s indirect costs from the gross profit. An analyst can see what types of endeavors a company is taking on to help grow the business from the indirect costs. For example, indirect costs associated with operating profit margin may include marketing campaign expenses, general and administrative costs, and depreciation and amortization. The operating profit margin is calculated by dividing operating profit over sales. This ratio allows an analyst to compare a company’s gross profit efficiency versus operating profit efficiency and to see how direct cost management differs from indirect cost management.

是对公司间接成本的分析，位于损益表的第二部分。Gross profit（总利润）减去公司所有间接成本即为operating profit（营业利润）。分析师可以从间接成本了解公司正在采取哪些措施发展业务。比如，与operating profit margin（营业利润率）相关的间接成本可能包括营销活动费用、一般和行政费用、折旧和摊销。Operating profit（营业利润）除以销售额即为operating profit margin（营业利润率）。通过该比率，分析师可以比较公司的gross profit efficiency（总利润效率）和operating profit efficiency（营业利润效率），了解直接成本管理与间接成本管理有何不同。

Net Profit

Net profit is calculated from the final section of an income statement. It is the result of operating profit minus interest and taxes, with interest and taxes being the last two factors to influence a company’s total earnings. Net profit is used in the calculation of net profit margin, which gives the final portrayal of how much a company is earning per dollar of sales.

是根据损益表最后部分计算的。Operating profit（营业利润）减去利息和税费即为net profit（净利润），其中利息和税费是影响公司总收入的最后两个因素。Net profit（净利润）用于计算net profit margin（净利润率），即公司每一美元销售额能够赚多少钱。

Earnings

Earnings are most commonly associated with a company’s bottom-line results. The bottom line shows how much a company has earned after subtracting all of its expenses. This measure can be referred to as net profit, net earnings, or net income. The net earnings of a company are the earnings after all expenses have been subtracted. Net earnings are then used to calculate a company’s earnings per share (EPS), which portrays a company's earnings based on the number of publicly traded equity shares it has outstanding.

最常与公司的底线结果相关。底线表示公司扣除所有费用后产生的净利润，该指标可称为“net profit”、“net earnings”或“net income”。公司的net earnings（净收益）是扣除所有费用后的收益，然后通过net earnings（净收益）计算公司的每股收益，即公司基于已发行在外的公开交易股票数量获得的收益。

Overall, earnings are the net value a company has achieved from operating activities for a specific reporting period. Companies also portray their net earnings by dividing it over shares outstanding when identifying the earnings per share (EPS) value.

总的来说，“Earnings”是公司在特定报告期内通过经营活动获得的净值。在确定每股收益时，公司会用net earnings（净收益）除以流通股票。

The net earnings of a company theoretically reflect an accounting value for a specific period. After the net earnings are calculated, this value flows through to the balance sheet and cash flow statement.

理论上讲，公司的net earnings（净收益）反映了特定期间的账面价值。计算net earnings（净收益）后，该值会反映在资产负债表和现金流量表中。

On the balance sheet, net earnings are included as retained earnings in the equity section. Retained earnings for the balance sheet are calculated as beginning retained earnings plus net income minus dividends. On the cash flow statement, the net earnings begin the top line of the operating activities section.

在资产负债表中，net earnings（净收益）作为留存收益计入权益部分。资产负债表中的留存收益等于期初留存收益加上净收入减去股利。在现金流量表中，net earnings（净收益）位于经营活动部分的顶线。

Special Considerations

特殊注意事项

The terms profit and earnings should be evaluated in context. Overall, these terms are primarily differentiated by the adjectives that precede them. For example, net earnings, or gross profit.

“Profit”和“Earnings”应结合上下文使用。总的来说，这两个词主要是通过前面的形容词来区分，比如，net earnings（净收益），gross profit（总利润）。

Gross profit and operating profit are terms used to analyze the first two segments of a company’s income statement.

Gross profit（总利润）和operating profit（营业利润）是用于分析公司损益表前两个部分。

The bottom-line, net earnings will have a different connotation. Net earnings can also be expressed as net income or net profit. The net earnings of a company provide the most comprehensive measure of a company’s performance after all expenses are subtracted. Ultimately, net earnings may be the most important number on the income statement because it comprehensively shows the company’s total earnings performance and the value carried over to the balance sheet and cash flow statement.

底线net earnings（净收益）表示不同的含义，也可写为“net income”或“net profit”。公司的net earnings（净收益）是扣除所有费用后的收益，是衡量公司业绩最全面的指标。最重要的一点是，鉴于net earnings（净收益）全面反映了公司的总收益表现以及结转至资产负债表和现金流量表的价值，net earnings（净收益）可能是损益表中最重要的数据。