# Net income

> The bottom line: profit or loss attributable to the company's shareholders after every cost, interest and tax.

Updated Oct 17, 2026.

Net income is the company's profit or loss for the period after every cost, interest, tax and the results of discontinued operations. Filings also call it net earnings or, when negative, net loss.

## How Listed shows it

As reported, under the XBRL concept `NetIncomeLoss`, which is the net income attributable to the company's own shareholders. Where a company has partly owned subsidiaries, the share that belongs to the other owners (non-controlling interests) is excluded. IFRS filers report the same figure as `ProfitLossAttributableToOwnersOfParent`. Q4 is derived as the fiscal year less the first three quarters.

## What to check

Net income includes items that have little to do with how the business ran in the period: gains and losses on investments, changes in tax rules, impairments, and the results of businesses being sold. Compare it with [operating income](/glossary/operating-income) and [operating cash flow](/glossary/operating-cash-flow). When the three tell different stories, the notes usually explain why.

## When it says "not reported"

Rarely. Almost every company tags net income. When it is missing, the company has usually used a concept of its own, or the period predates its XBRL history.

## Related terms

- [Net margin](/glossary/net-margin.md)
- [Diluted EPS](/glossary/diluted-eps.md)
- [Operating income](/glossary/operating-income.md)
- [Return on equity](/glossary/return-on-equity.md)

## Guides that use it

- [How to read a 10-K](/guides/how-to-read-a-10-k.md)

All terms: [/glossary.md](/glossary.md)