S & B Industrial Minerals (ATH:ARBA) Gross Margin % : 21.10% (As of Sep. 2012)

S & B Industrial Minerals Gross Margin % Chart

S & B Industrial Minerals Annual Data
	Trend	Dec02	Dec03	Dec04	Dec05	Dec06	Dec07	Dec08	Dec09	Dec10	Dec11
Gross Margin %		Get a 7-Day Free Trial					25.87	22.65	21.98	22.23	24.38

S & B Industrial Minerals Quarterly Data
	Dec09	Mar10	Jun10	Sep10	Dec10	Mar11	Jun11	Sep11	Dec11	Mar12	Jun12	Sep12
Gross Margin %	Get a 7-Day Free Trial							25.05	23.57	25.52	27.45	21.10

Competitive Comparison of S & B Industrial Minerals's Gross Margin %

For the Other Industrial Metals & Mining subindustry, S & B Industrial Minerals's Gross Margin %, along with its competitors' market caps and Gross Margin % data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.

S & B Industrial Minerals's Gross Margin % Distribution in the Metals & Mining Industry

For the Metals & Mining industry and Basic Materials sector, S & B Industrial Minerals's Gross Margin % distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where S & B Industrial Minerals's Gross Margin % falls into.

S & B Industrial Minerals Gross Margin % Calculation

Gross Margin is the percentage of Gross Profit out of sales or Revenue.

S & B Industrial Minerals's Gross Margin for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2011 is calculated as

S & B Industrial Minerals's Gross Margin for the quarter that ended in Sep. 2012 is calculated as

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

A positive Gross Profit is only the first step for a company to make a net profit. The gross profit needs to be big enough to also cover related labor, equipment, rental, marketing/advertising, research and development and a lot of other costs in selling the products.

S & B Industrial Minerals  (ATH:ARBA) Gross Margin % Explanation

Warren Buffett believes that firms with excellent long term economics tend to have consistently higher margins.

Durable competitive advantage creates a high Gross Margin % because of the freedom to price in excess of cost. Companies can be categorized by their Gross Margin %

1. Greater than 40% = Durable competitive advantage
2. Less than 40% = Competition eroding margins
3. Less than 20% = no sustainable competitive advantage
Consistency of Gross Margin is key

S & B Industrial Minerals had a gross margin of 21.10% for the quarter that ended in Sep. 2012 => Competition eroding margins

Be Aware

If a company loses its competitive advantages, usually its gross margin declines well before its sales declines. Watching Gross Margin % and Operating Margin % closely helps avoid value trap situations.

S & B Industrial Minerals Gross Margin % Related Terms

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S & B Industrial Minerals (ATH:ARBA) Business Description