An income statement shows how much revenue a company earned, what it spent to earn that revenue, and what was left as net income over a period of time. The SEC's beginner guide describes it as the statement that shows how much money a company made and spent, with the bottom line showing net earnings or losses. 1
Card-by-card notes
- Income statement = sales minus costs and expenses, ending in profit or loss.
- Lemonade stand version: money comes in from cups sold, money goes out for lemons, sugar, cups, and the stand keeps what is left.
- Real numbers: Apple reported fiscal 2024 total net sales of $391.0 billion and net income of $93.7 billion, or about a 24% net margin. 2 Walmart reported fiscal 2025 net sales of $674.5 billion and consolidated net income of $20.2 billion, or about a 3% net margin. 3
- Beginner trap: big revenue does not automatically mean big profit. Always ask what the company kept after costs.
- Course map: this is step 1. Next week: revenue vs profit.
Educational only. This is not investment advice, and one metric never tells the whole story.
References
- 1
- 2Apple 2024 Form 10-K
sec.gov
- 3Walmart 2025 Form 10-K
sec.gov
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