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operating leverage

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Financial Dictionary

Operating Leverage

A measurement of the degree to which a firm or project relies on fixed rather than variable costs.

Investopedia Commentary

The higher the degree of operating leverage, the greater the potential danger from forecasting risk. That is, if a relatively small error is made in forecasting sales, it can be magnified into large errors in cash flow projections. If the majority of costs for a company or project are fixed, then the costs will remain high while sales are dropping.

Related Links

Introduction to Fundamental Analysis

See also: Cash Flow, Fixed Cost, Leverage, Variable Cost

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Financial Dictionary

operating leverage

The extent to which fixed operating costs magnify changes in sales or revenues into even greater proportionate changes in operating income. For example, a company that substitutes robots or other machinery for laborers also substitutes fixed costs for variable costs and increases its operating leverage. High operating leverage tends to produce volatile earnings. Compare financial leverage.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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