E

An abbreviation for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization; intended to be a measure of the amount of cash generated by a company's operations (but leaving out the costs of financing and taxes - the 'I' and the 'T'). The danger with EBITDA is that if the 'D' and 'A' represent a 'using up' of an asset that will have to be replaced in the future, then they really are operations-related expenses, making EBITDA too liberal a number. It is used an indicator of a company's profitability that is watched by investors (especially in leveraged buyouts).