Revenue

Revenue (also called net sales or turnover) is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods or services related to the company's primary operations.

Revenue is the top line — the total money flowing into a business before any costs are subtracted. A company growing both revenue and earnings is on solid footing; growing earnings while revenue shrinks may be cutting costs unsustainably.

What this tells you

What the company billed for its goods and services in the period, before any cost is subtracted. The top line.

What it does not tell you

Revenue growth says nothing about whether the growth was profitable. A company can raise revenue indefinitely by selling below cost, and some do it deliberately for years. It also hides what drove the change. Revenue up ten percent could be more units, higher prices, a favourable exchange rate, or an acquisition that bought the growth outright. Those are four very different businesses and the single number cannot tell them apart. And revenue recognition rules give management real latitude over when a sale is booked.

Further reading: Wikipedia