What is an income statement waterfall?

An income statement waterfall is a bar chart that walks from total revenue down to net income, with each step showing how much a cost or tax line removes (or adds). Subtotals — gross profit, operating income, pre-tax income — are anchored to zero so the cascade reconciles exactly to the bottom line.

How much of AutoZone (AZO) revenue becomes net income?

For TTM through Q2 2026, AutoZone turned $20B of revenue into $2.48B of net income — a net margin of 12.4%. The waterfall shows where the rest goes: cost of revenue, operating expenses, non-operating items, and taxes.

What are AutoZone (AZO) gross, operating, and net margins?

For TTM through Q2 2026, AutoZone reported a gross margin of 51.8%, an operating margin of 18%, and a net margin of 12.4%. Each subtotal in the waterfall corresponds to one of these margins.

Why does AutoZone (AZO) have such a high (or low) gross margin?

Gross margin (gross profit ÷ revenue) reflects how much of each revenue dollar remains after direct production costs. Capital-light software and platform businesses often show gross margins above 60–80% because their cost of revenue is mainly hosting and support. Hardware, retail, and commodity businesses show lower gross margins because raw materials and manufacturing costs are significant. The waterfall makes this visible at a glance — the size of the "Cost of Revenue" bar relative to Revenue is the gross margin complement.

What is the difference between gross, operating, and net margin?

Gross margin = (Revenue − Cost of Revenue) ÷ Revenue. It measures production efficiency. Operating margin = Operating Income ÷ Revenue. It adds operating expenses (R&D, S&M, G&A) and measures the profitability of core operations. Net margin = Net Income ÷ Revenue. It also includes interest, other income/expense, and taxes, and represents the shareholder take after everything.

AutoZone (AZO) Income Statement Waterfall

Revenue

$20B

Gross Margin

+51.8%

Operating Margin

+18.0%

Net Margin

+12.4%

Income statement waterfall for AutoZone (AZO) — TTM through Q2 2026

Net income: $2.48B

Margin breakdown for AutoZone (AZO) — TTM through Q2 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Revenue	$20B	$20B
Cost of Revenue	-$9.64B	$10.3B
Gross Profit	$10.3B	$10.3B
Operating Expenses	-$6.74B	$3.6B
Operating Income	$3.6B	$3.6B
Other Income / Expense	-$472M	$3.13B
Pre-tax Income	$3.13B	$3.13B
Income Tax	-$652M	$2.48B
Net Income	$2.48B	$2.48B

Revenue$20B
Cost of Revenue-$9.64B
Gross Profit$10.3B
Operating Expenses-$6.74B
Operating Income$3.6B
Other Income / Expense-$472M
Pre-tax Income$3.13B
Income Tax-$652M
Net Income$2.48B

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