Margem Bruta

Gross Margin: core operating efficiency

Gross margin tells you how much of each revenue dollar is left once you subtract the direct cost of goods sold (COGS): Gross Margin = (Revenue − COGS) / Revenue · 100%. Say you book R$ 100,000 in revenue against R$ 60,000 of COGS. That leaves a 40% gross margin. The numbers you should expect depend heavily on the industry. SaaS usually lands in the 70–90% range, Microsoft and other large tech sit above 65%, food retail runs 25–35%, commodities 5–15%, and airlines 5–10%. Don't confuse it with operating margin, which also subtracts SG&A, or net margin, which goes further and strips out interest, taxes and non-operating items. What gross margin really shows is pricing power and how tightly direct costs are managed. When it slides for a sustained period, the usual culprit is competitive pressure or rising input prices.

Applications and context

You'll see it everywhere — in P&L analysis, in sector comparison (stick to the same industry), in pricing strategy, and in board reporting. Investors watch the trend so they can catch margin erosion before it gets bad. Managers lean on it to check whether a price hike or a switch of suppliers actually shows up in the bottom line.

FAQ

Gross margin vs markup — what's the difference? Markup divides profit by cost. Gross margin divides profit by revenue. So a 100% markup is the same thing as a 50% gross margin.

Why compare margins only within the same sector? Cost structures just aren't the same. A 10% margin is great for an airline and dismal for SaaS, so comparing across sectors will lead you astray.

What enters COGS? Only the direct costs of making or buying what you sold: raw materials, direct labour, freight in. Marketing, administration and rent count as operating expenses, so they stay out of COGS.