By JASON FERNANDO

Reviewed by THOMAS BROCK

Fact checked by VIKKI VELASQUEZ

编写人：JASON FERNANDO

审核人：THOMAS BROCK

事实核查人：VIKKI VELASQUEZ

What Are Retained Earnings?

什么是留存收益？

Retained earnings are the cumulative net earnings or profits of a company after accounting for dividend payments. As an important concept in accounting, the word “retained” captures the fact that because those earnings were not paid out to shareholders as dividends, they were instead retained by the company.

留存收益是公司扣除股利后获得的累计净收益或净利润。“留存”是会计领域的一个重要概念，表示这些收益并未作为股利向股东支付，而是由公司留作他用。

For this reason, retained earnings decrease when a company either loses money or pays dividends and increase when new profits are created.

因此，公司发生亏损或支付股利时，留存收益减少；产生新利润时，留存收益增加。

KEY TAKEAWAYS

关键要点

·Retained earnings (RE) are the amount of net income left over for the business after it has paid out dividends to its shareholders.

留存收益是企业向股东支付股利后留存的净利润。

·The decision to retain the earnings or distribute them among shareholders is usually left to company management.

通常由公司管理层决定是保留收益还是向股东分派。

·A growth-focused company may not pay dividends at all or pay very small amounts because it may prefer to use retained earnings to finance expansion activities.

成长型公司可能倾向于利用留存收益扩大自身规模，根本不支付股利或仅支付少量股利。

·Companies may choose to use their retained earnings for increasing production capacity, hiring more sales representatives, launching a new product, or share buybacks, among others.

公司可选择利用留存收益提高产能、雇佣更多销售代表、推出新产品、回购股份等。

·Retained earnings are an important variable for assessing a company’s financial health because they show the net income that a company has saved over time, and therefore can reinvest in the business or distribute to shareholders.

留存收益是公司一段时间内保留的净利润，可以再次投入到业务中，也可以向股东分派，是评估公司财务状况的重要变量。

Retained Earnings Formula and Calculation

留存收益公式与计算

RE=BP+Net Income (or Loss)−C−S

where:

BP=Beginning Period RE

C=Cash dividends

S=Stock dividends​

RE=BP+净利润（或净亏损）−C−S

其中：

BP=期初留存收益

C=现金股利

S=股票股利​

What Can Retained Earnings Tell You?

了解留存收益

Retained earnings refer to the historical profits earned by a company, minus any dividends it paid in the past. To get a better understanding of what retained earnings can tell you, the following options broadly cover all possible uses that a company can make of its surplus money. For instance, the first option leads to the earnings money going out of the books and accounts of the business forever because dividend payments are irreversible.

公司赚取的历史利润减去过去支付的股利，即为留存收益。为帮助您更好地了解留存收益，下文列出了公司可能利用盈余资金从事的活动。比如，第一项会导致收益不再在企业账簿中列示，因为股利支付不可逆转。

All of the other options retain the earnings for use within the business, and such investments and funding activities constitute retained earnings.

其他所有选项会保留收益供企业内部使用，这些投资和融资活动构成了留存收益。

·The income money can be distributed (fully or partially) among the business owners (shareholders) in the form of dividends.

收益以股利的形式向企业所有者（股东）全部或部分分派。

·It can be invested to expand existing business operations, like increasing the production capacity of the existing products or hiring more sales representatives.

收益可用于扩大经营规模，比如，提高现有产品的产能，或雇佣更多销售代表。

·It can be invested to launch a new product/variant, like a refrigerator maker foraying into producing air conditioners or a chocolate cookie manufacturer launching orange- or pineapple-flavored variants.

收益可用于推出新产品/变体，比如，冰箱制造商首次涉足空调生产领域，或巧克力饼干制造商推出橙子或菠萝口味的饼干。

·The money can be used for any possible merger, acquisition, or partnership that leads to improved business prospects.

收益可用于潜在兼并、收购或合作，增进业务成功的可能性。

·It can also be used for share buybacks.

收益可用于回购股份。

·The earnings can be used to repay any outstanding loan (debt) that the business may owe.

收益可用于偿还企业的未偿贷款（债务）。

Retained earnings are also called earnings surplus and represent reserve money, which is available to company management for reinvesting back into the business. When expressed as a percentage of total earnings, it is also called the retention ratio and is equal to (1 - the dividend payout ratio).

留存收益，也称为营业盈余，属于储备金，可供公司管理层再次投入业务。留存收益与总收益之间的比率称为留存收益率，等于1-股利支付率。

Though the last option of debt repayment also leads to the money going out of the business, it still has an impact on the business’s accounts (for example, on saving future interest payments, which qualifies it for inclusion in retained earnings).

最后一项债务偿还虽然也会导致资金流出企业，但仍然对企业账目产生影响（比如，未来的利息支付减少，使其有资格计入留存收益）。

Profits give a lot of room to the business owner(s) or the company management to use the surplus money earned. This profit is often paid out to shareholders, but it can also be reinvested back into the company for growth purposes. The money not paid to shareholders counts as retained earnings.

利润为企业所有者或公司管理层提供了大量空间使用赚取的盈余资金。这些利润通常会支付给股东，也可再次投入公司扩大规模。未支付给股东的资金视为留存收益。

Management and Retained Earnings

管理层与留存收益

The decision to retain earnings or to distribute them among shareholders is usually left to the company management. However, it can be challenged by the shareholders through a majority vote because they are the real owners of the company.

通常由公司管理层决定是保留收益还是向股东分派。但是，股东作为公司真正的所有者，可以通过多数票对决定进行质疑。

Management and shareholders may want the company to retain earnings for several different reasons. Being better informed about the market and the company’s business, the management may have a high-growth project in view, which they may perceive as a candidate for generating substantial returns in the future.

管理层和股东会出于多种原因希望公司保留收益。通过更好地了解市场和公司业务，管理层会留意高增长项目，将其视为未来能够产生可观回报的候选项目。

In the long run, such initiatives may lead to better returns for the company shareholders instead of those gained from dividend payouts. Paying off high-interest debt also may be preferred by both management and shareholders, instead of dividend payments.

从长远来看，这些举措可能会为公司股东带来比股利更高的回报。相较于分派股利，管理层和股东也可能更愿意偿还高息债务。

On the other hand, when a company generates surplus income, a portion of the long-term shareholders may expect some regular income in the form of dividends as a reward for putting their money into the company. Traders who look for short-term gains may also prefer dividend payments that offer instant gains.

另一方面，若公司产生盈余收益，一部分长期股东可能期望以股利形式获得固定收入，作为投资公司的回报。若寻求短期收益，可能也会更倾向于能够产生即时收益的股利支付方式。

Most often, the company’s management takes a balanced approach. It involves paying out a nominal amount of dividends and retaining a good portion of the earnings, which offers a win-win.

大多数情况下，公司管理层会两者兼顾，即支付股利名义金额，并保留大部分收益，实现双赢。

What Is the Difference Between Retained Earnings and Dividends?

留存收益与股利之间有什么区别？

Dividends can be distributed in the form of cash or stock. Both forms of distribution reduce retained earnings. Cash payment of dividends leads to cash outflow and is recorded in the books and accounts as net reductions. As the company loses ownership of its liquid assets in the form of cash dividends, it reduces the company’s asset value on the balance sheet, thereby impacting RE.

股利可以现金或股票的形式进行分派。这两种分派形式都会使留存收益变少。以现金形式支付股利会导致现金流出，在账簿中记为净减少。公司会因现金股利失去对流动资产的所有权，公司资产负债表上的资产价值会减少，从而影响留存收益。

On the other hand, though stock dividends do not lead to a cash outflow, the stock payment transfers part of the retained earnings to common stock. For instance, if a company pays one share as a dividend for each share held by the investors, the price per share will reduce to half because the number of shares will essentially double. Because the company has not created any real value simply by announcing a stock dividend, the per-share market price is adjusted according to the proportion of the stock dividend.

另一方面，虽然股票股利不会导致现金流出，但是股票支付是将部分留存收益转入普通股。比如，一家公司为投资者持有的每股股票支付一股股利，那么，股票数量实际上会增加一倍，每股价格就会减半。公司只是宣布发放股利，并未创造任何实际价值，每股市价根据股利比例进行调整。

Though the increase in the number of shares may not impact the company’s balance sheet because the market price is automatically adjusted, it decreases the per-share valuation, which is reflected in capital accounts, thereby impacting the RE.

鉴于股票市值会自动调整，股票数量增加不会对公司资产负债表产生影响，但是，资本账户中的每股估值会减少，留存收益随之受到影响。

A growth-focused company may not pay dividends at all or pay very small amounts because it may prefer to use retained earnings to finance activities such as research and development (R&D), marketing, working capital requirements, capital expenditures, and acquisitions to achieve additional growth. Such companies have high retained earnings over the years.

成长型公司可能倾向于利用留存收益扩大自身规模，比如，从事研发、营销、营运资本需求、资本支出和收购等活动，根本不支付股利或仅支付少量股利，历年的留存收益较高。

A maturing company may not have many options or high-return projects for which to use the surplus cash, and it may prefer handing out dividends. Such companies tend to have low RE.

成熟公司可能没有太多选择或高回报项目需要使用盈余现金，更愿意分派股息，因此，留存收益较低。

What Is the Difference Between Retained Earnings and Revenue?

留存收益与总收入之间有什么区别？

Both revenue and retained earnings are important in evaluating a company’s financial health, but they highlight different aspects of the financial picture. Revenue sits at the top of the income statement and is often referred to as the top-line number when describing a company’s financial performance.

总收入和留存收益对于评估公司财务状况而言都很重要，只不过侧重点不同。总收入位于损益表的顶部，描述公司财务业绩时通常称为顶线数字。

Revenue is the money generated by a company during a period but before operating expenses and overhead costs are deducted. In some industries, revenue is called gross sales because the gross figure is calculated before any deductions.

总收入是公司在一段期间内产生的扣除营业费用和间接成本之前的金额。在某些行业中，总收入称为销售总额，因为总额是扣除任何费用之前的金额。

Retained earnings are the portion of a company’s cumulative profit that is held or retained and saved for future use. Retained earnings could be used for funding an expansion or paying dividends to shareholders at a later date. Retained earnings are related to net (as opposed to gross) income because they are the net income amount saved by a company over time.

留存收益是公司累计利润中持有或保留以供未来使用的部分，可用于扩大公司规模或以后向股东支付股利。留存收益是公司一段时间内保留的净利润（与总收益相对），因此与净利润相关。

What Are the Limitations of Retained Earnings?

留存收益有哪些局限性？

For an analyst, the absolute figure of retained earnings during a particular quarter or year may not provide any meaningful insight. Observing it over a period of time (for example, over five years) only indicates the trend of how much money a company is adding to retained earnings.

对于分析师来说，可能无法通过特定季度或年份的留存收益的绝对数值获得任何有价值的信息。通过一段期间（比如，五年以上）的观察，只能看出公司留存收益增加的趋势。

As an investor, one would like to know much more—such as the returns that the retained earnings have generated and if they were better than any alternative investments. Additionally, investors may prefer to see larger dividends rather than significant annual increases to retained earnings.

对于投资者来说，想要了解更多有关留存收益产生的回报以及留存收益是否比任何另类投资更好等信息。此外，投资者更愿意看到分派的股利较高，而不是每年留存收益大幅增长。

What Is Retained Earnings to Market Value?

什么是留存收益市值比？

One way to assess how successful a company is in using retained money is to look at a key factor called retained earnings to market value. It is calculated over a period of time (usually a couple of years) and assesses the change in stock price against the net earnings retained by the company.

要想评估一个公司在使用留存资金方面的情况，可以留意一个重要因素，即留存收益市值比。留存收益市值比是在一段时间（通常为几年）内进行计算，根据公司保留的净收益评估股价的变化。

For example, during the period from September 2016 through September 2020, Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) stock price rose from around $28 to around $112 per share. During the same period, the total earnings per share (EPS) was $13.61, while the total dividend paid out by the company was $3.38 per share.

比如，在2016年9月至2020年9月期间，Apple Inc.’s (AAPL)每股股价从28美元左右上涨至112美元左右。同期，每股总收益为13.61美元，而公司支付的每股股利为3.38美元。

As the 2020 10-K form indicates, Apple had the following EPS and dividend figures over the given time frame, and summing them up gives the above values for total EPS and total dividend.

通过2020年10-K表可以得知Apple在上述期间内的每股收益和股利，将各个数值相加即为每股总收益和总股利。

The difference between total EPS and total dividend gives the net earnings retained by the company: $13.61 - $3.38 = $10.23. That is, over the period, the company retained a total of $10.23 earnings per share.

每股总收益与总股利之差为公司保留的净收益，即13.61美元 - 3.38美元 = 10.23美元。也就是说，在此期间，公司保留的每股收益为10.23美元。

Over the same duration, its stock price rose by $84 ($112 - $28) per share. Dividing this price rise per share by net earnings retained per share gives a factor of 8.21 ($84 ÷ $10.23), which indicates that for each dollar of retained earnings, the company managed to create around $8.21 of market value.

同期，公司每股股价上涨84美元（112美元 - 28美元）。每股上涨价格除以每股净收益即为8.21（84美元 ÷ 10.23美元），表明每一美元的留存收益创造了大约8.21美元的市值。

If the company had not retained this money and instead taken an interest-bearing loan, the value generated would have been less due to the outgoing interest payment. Retained earnings offer internally generated capital to finance projects, allowing for efficient value creation by profitable companies. However, note that the above calculation is indicative of the value created with respect to the use of retained earnings only, and it does not indicate the overall value created by the company.

若公司没有保留这笔资金，而是申请一笔有息贷款，则需要支付利息，产生的价值就会减少。留存收益利用公司内部资金资助项目，使盈利的公司能够有效地创造价值。但是，需要注意的是，上述计算仅指使用留存收益创造的价值，不是公司创造的总价值。

Retained Earnings Example

留存收益示例

Companies publicly record retained earnings under the shareholders’ equity section on the balance sheet. For instance, Apple’s balance sheet from the third fiscal quarter (fiscal Q3) of 2019 shows that the company had retained earnings of $53.72 billion as of the end of the quarter in June 2019.

公司会在资产负债表股东权益部分列示留存收益。比如，Apple 2019年第三财政季度的资产负债表显示，截至2019年6月季度末，公司的留存收益为537.2亿美元。

Similarly, the iPhone maker, whose fiscal year ends in September, had $70.4 billion in retained earnings as of September 2018.

同样，截至2018年9月，iPhone制造商（财年于9月结束）的留存收益为704亿美元。

The retained earnings are calculated by adding net income to (or subtracting net losses from) the previous term’s retained earnings and then subtracting any net dividend(s) paid to the shareholders.

上期留存收益加上净利润（或减去净亏损）再减去向股东支付的净股利即为本期留存收益。

The figure is calculated at the end of each accounting period (monthly/quarterly/annually). As the formula suggests, retained earnings are dependent on the corresponding figure of the previous term. The resultant number may be either positive or negative, depending upon the net income or loss generated by the company over time. Alternatively, the company paying large dividends that exceed the other figures can also lead to the retained earnings going negative. 

留存收益是在每个会计期（月度/季度/年度）末进行计算。根据上述公式可看出，本期留存收益会受到上期留存收益的影响。留存收益可能是正数，也可能是负数，具体取决于公司在一段期间内产生的是净利润还是净亏损。或者，公司支付的高额股利大于其他数值，也会导致留存收益为负。

Any item that impacts net income (or net loss) will impact the retained earnings. Such items include sales revenue, cost of goods sold (COGS), depreciation, and necessary operating expenses.

任何影响净利润（或净亏损）的项目都会对留存收益产生影响，其中包括销售收入、销货成本、折旧和必要的营业费用。

Are Retained Earnings a Type of Equity?

留存收益是否属于权益类项目？

Retained earnings are a type of equity and are therefore reported in the shareholders’ equity section of the balance sheet. Although retained earnings are not themselves an asset, they can be used to purchase assets such as inventory, equipment, or other investments. Therefore, a company with a large retained earnings balance may be well-positioned to purchase new assets in the future or offer increased dividend payments to its shareholders.

留存收益属于权益类项目，在资产负债表股东权益部分列示。留存收益本身虽然不属于资产，但可用于购买存货、设备或其他投资等资产。因此，公司拥有大量留存收益余额，就能够在未来购买新资产或向股东支付更多股利。

What Does Negative Retained Earnings Mean?

留存收益为负表示什么含义？

Generally speaking, a company with a negative retained earnings balance would signal weakness because it indicates that the company has experienced losses in one or more previous years. However, it is more difficult to interpret a company with high retained earnings.

一般来说，留存收益余额为负，说明公司在过去一年或多年中处于亏损状态，经营疲软。但是，公司留存收益高的话，就不太容易作出判断。

What Does It Mean for a Company to Have High Retained Earnings?

公司留存收益高表示什么含义？

On one hand, high retained earnings could indicate financial strength since it demonstrates a track record of profitability in previous years. On the other hand, it could be indicative of a company that should consider paying more dividends to its shareholders. This, of course, depends on whether the company has been pursuing profitable growth opportunities.

一方面，留存收益高，说明往年处于盈利状态，财力强大。另一方面，说明公司应该考虑向股东支付更多股利。当然，还是要取决于公司是否一直在寻求机会实现盈利增长。

Where Is Retained Earnings on a Balance Sheet?

留存收益位于资产负债表的哪个部分？

Retained earnings can typically be found on a company’s balance sheet in the shareholders’ equity section. Retained earnings are calculated through taking the beginning-period retained earnings, adding to the net income (or loss), and subtracting dividend payouts.

留存收益通常在资产负债表股东权益部分列示，计算方法为：留存收益=期初留存收益+净利润（或净亏损）-股利。

Are Retained Earnings the Same as Profits?

留存收益是否等于利润？

The main difference between retained earnings and profits is that retained earnings subtract dividend payments from a company’s profit, whereas profits do not. Where profits may indicate that a company has positive net income, retained earnings may show that a company has a net loss depending on the amount of dividends it paid out to shareholders.

留存收益与利润之间的区别主要在于，留存收益是扣除股利之后的利润，而利润则不是。若利润表明公司的净收益为正，则留存收益可能表明公司出现净亏损，具体取决于公司向股东支付的股利金额。

The Bottom Line

总结

Retained earnings represent the profit a company has saved over time and therefore the portion that can be used to reinvest in the business (in new equipment, R&D, or marketing, among others) or distributed to shareholders. They are a measure of a company's financial health and they can promote stability and growth.

留存收益表示公司在一段时间内保留的利润，可以再次投入新设备、研发、营销等业务或向股东分派，是衡量公司财务状况的指标，有助于促进公司稳定，推动业务增长。