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Operating Income History Chart
Chart any stock's 10-year operating income in one view, with an operating margin overlay and an Expanding/Stable/Contracting verdict. Auto-populates from Yahoo Finance. Pair it with the EBITDA history chart and the revenue history chart.
How to Read the Operating Income Trend
Operating income — also called EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) — is the most direct measure of a company's core business profitability. It captures what the business earns from its operations before financing costs and tax policy enter the picture. That makes it the cleanest signal for comparing companies with different capital structures or domiciles.
The bars on this chart are colored green when operating income grew year-over-year and red when it declined. But absolute dollars alone can mislead: a $5B operating profit is exceptional for a consumer brand and modest for a tech giant. That is why this chart overlays the operating margin as a line — operating income as a percentage of revenue. A rising margin means the business is keeping more of each revenue dollar as it grows, a key sign of operating leverage. A falling margin means the cost base is expanding faster than revenue, often a warning sign.
The 3-year CAGR and verdict badge (Expanding / Stable / Contracting) give a quick directional read without requiring you to eyeball multi-year trends. Pair this chart with the EBITDA history chart to see how depreciation and amortization affect the operating income line, and with the net income history chart to see how financing costs and taxes translate operating income into bottom-line results.
Related Tools
Complete the profitability picture with these related tools:
- EBITDA History Chart — 10 years of annual EBITDA with margin overlay
- Net Income History Chart — bottom-line profitability over 10 years
- Operating Margin History Chart — operating margin trend in isolation
- Revenue History Chart — the top line that drives the margin calculation
- ROIC Guide — how operating income translates to return on capital
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the operating income history chart show?
It plots up to 10 fiscal years of a company's annual operating income (EBIT — earnings before interest and taxes) as colored bars, with the operating income margin (operating income divided by revenue) overlaid as a line. Together they reveal both the absolute scale of core profitability and whether that profitability is expanding or compressing relative to revenue.
What do the bar colors mean?
Bars are colored by year-over-year change in operating income. Green means operating income grew versus the prior year — core profitability is expanding. Red means it shrank. The first year shown is amber because there is no prior year to compare against.
What is the Expanding / Stable / Contracting verdict?
The verdict is derived from the 3-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of operating income. A 3-year CAGR above 5% earns 'Expanding'; below 0% is 'Contracting'; between 0% and 5% is 'Stable'. This gives a quick read on whether the business's core earnings engine is gaining or losing power.
How does operating income differ from net income or EBITDA?
Operating income strips out interest expense, tax, and below-the-line items (hence EBIT), making it the purest measure of core business profitability — unaffected by how the company is financed or its tax situation. EBITDA adds back depreciation and amortization on top of EBIT, masking capital intensity. Net income goes further below the line, including financing costs and taxes. Operating income is the most useful lens for comparing operating leverage across companies.
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