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 SBA Communications (SBAC) revenue becomes net income?

For TTM through Q1 2026, SBA Communications turned $2.85B of revenue into $1.02B of net income — a net margin of 35.7%. The waterfall shows where the rest goes: cost of revenue, operating expenses, non-operating items, and taxes.

What are SBA Communications (SBAC) gross, operating, and net margins?

For TTM through Q1 2026, SBA Communications reported a gross margin of 63.6%, an operating margin of 47.6%, and a net margin of 35.7%. Each subtotal in the waterfall corresponds to one of these margins.

Why does SBA Communications (SBAC) 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.

SBA Communications (SBAC) Income Statement Waterfall

Revenue

$2.85B

Gross Margin

+63.6%

Operating Margin

+47.6%

Net Margin

+35.7%

Income statement waterfall for SBA Communications (SBAC) — TTM through Q1 2026

Net income: $1.02B

Margin breakdown for SBA Communications (SBAC) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Revenue	$2.85B	$2.85B
Cost of Revenue	-$1.04B	$1.82B
Gross Profit	$1.82B	$1.82B
Operating Expenses	-$456M	$1.36B
Operating Income	$1.36B	$1.36B
Other Income / Expense	-$141M	$1.22B
Pre-tax Income	$1.22B	$1.22B
Income Tax	-$197M	$1.02B
Net Income	$1.02B	$1.02B

Revenue$2.85B
Cost of Revenue-$1.04B
Gross Profit$1.82B
Operating Expenses-$456M
Operating Income$1.36B
Other Income / Expense-$141M
Pre-tax Income$1.22B
Income Tax-$197M
Net Income$1.02B

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SBA Communications (SBAC) Key Financials

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Operating Margin47.6%

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Operations

Employees1.8K

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