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 CDW (CDW) revenue becomes net income?

For TTM through Q1 2026, CDW turned $22.9B of revenue into $1.08B of net income — a net margin of 4.7%. The waterfall shows where the rest goes: cost of revenue, operating expenses, non-operating items, and taxes.

What are CDW (CDW) gross, operating, and net margins?

For TTM through Q1 2026, CDW reported a gross margin of 21.6%, an operating margin of 7.3%, and a net margin of 4.7%. Each subtotal in the waterfall corresponds to one of these margins.

Why does CDW (CDW) 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.

CDW (CDW) Income Statement Waterfall

Revenue

$22.9B

Gross Margin

+21.6%

Operating Margin

+7.3%

Net Margin

+4.7%

Income statement waterfall for CDW (CDW) — TTM through Q1 2026

Net income: $1.08B

Margin breakdown for CDW (CDW) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Revenue	$22.9B	$22.9B
Cost of Revenue	-$18B	$4.94B
Gross Profit	$4.94B	$4.94B
Operating Expenses	-$3.27B	$1.67B
Operating Income	$1.67B	$1.67B
Other Income / Expense	-$229M	$1.44B
Pre-tax Income	$1.44B	$1.44B
Income Tax	-$365M	$1.08B
Net Income	$1.08B	$1.08B

Revenue$22.9B
Cost of Revenue-$18B
Gross Profit$4.94B
Operating Expenses-$3.27B
Operating Income$1.67B
Other Income / Expense-$229M
Pre-tax Income$1.44B
Income Tax-$365M
Net Income$1.08B

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