Business, Legal & Accounting Glossary
Profitable. opposite of in the red.
In the black means to be profitable.
The term in the black comes from the tradition of showing positive numbers in black, and negative numbers in red. In the black is often used when a company has moved from net loss to net profit, or vice versa. Thus a stock analyst might write “After spilling red ink in 200X and 200Y, the company has been in the black since 200Z.” In the black is an ambiguous term. It usually means net income, but used loosely, it could also mean operating or pretax income. Further, a company that records $1 million in profits and a company that makes $1 billion in profit are both “in the black.” Thus, the expression in the black is best avoided, except perhaps as an attention-grabbing device, as in a headline.
You should always be making every decision based on what you think will be able to keep you in the black.
When making an investment, it’s best to go with a company in the black as it means it’s turning a profit.
It’s great news for everyone that the company is back in the black this year after sales increased in the last quarter.
black ink
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This glossary post was last updated: 5th November, 2021 | 0 Views.