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Growth

Revenue Growth

The percentage change in a company's total sales (revenue) from one period to the same period a year earlier.

Part of the Growth & Capital Returns course · Lesson 1 of 26
Formula
(Current Revenue - Prior Revenue) / Prior Revenue x 100

What it is

Revenue growth measures how much a company's top-line sales increased or decreased over time, usually compared year-over-year or quarter-over-quarter. Revenue (also called sales or the "top line") is the money a company brings in before any costs are subtracted. Positive growth means the business is selling more; negative growth (a decline) means it is selling less.

Why it matters

Revenue growth is one of the clearest signals of whether a business is expanding, holding steady, or shrinking, and it often drives a stock's valuation. A common pitfall is treating all growth equally: growth driven by acquisitions, a one-time order, or currency swings is lower-quality than organic growth from selling more to customers. Always check whether margins are holding up, because growth that comes at the cost of heavy discounting or rising expenses may not reach the bottom line.

How it's calculated

Take the current period's revenue, subtract the prior comparable period's revenue, divide by that prior revenue, and multiply by 100 to get a percentage.

How Quintarthai uses it

Quintarthai shows revenue and its year-over-year trend in the 10-year Financials tab and the 5-year financial highlights on the Summary of each company's deep-analysis page, and you can rank or filter the North-American universe by revenue growth in the Stock Screener.

Cross-border note. Canadian filers report revenue under IFRS and US filers under US GAAP, so the underlying recognition rules can differ slightly; for companies that report in CAD, currency moves versus USD can flatter or depress reported growth when you compare across the border.

FAQ

What is the difference between year-over-year and sequential revenue growth?
Year-over-year compares a period to the same period one year earlier, which cancels out seasonality; sequential (quarter-over-quarter) compares to the immediately prior period and can be distorted by seasonal patterns.
Is organic revenue growth different from total revenue growth?
Yes. Organic growth strips out the effect of acquisitions, divestitures, and currency changes to show growth from the existing business, while total (reported) growth includes all of those effects.
Related terms
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