Guides: reading company financials in plain English

Short, practical guides to the numbers on our company pages. No jargon, no stock tips.

• How to read a 10-K without getting lostA practical order for reading a company’s annual report: which sections matter, what to skip, and the questions to ask.
• Free cash flow, explained simplyWhat free cash flow is, how it differs from profit, and why investors watch it.
• Operating margin: what it tells you about a businessHow operating margin works, why it differs so much between industries, and what a rising or falling margin can mean.
• Net cash or net debt? Reading a balance sheet in two minutesHow to tell whether a company has more cash than debt, and why the answer depends on the business.
• Why comparing a stock with its peers beats looking at it aloneHow peer comparisons work, why the right peer group matters, and how CookieStocks approaches it in plain English.