Final answer:
Earnings per share is reported only for profit measures, specifically Net Income, and should not be reported for Revenue, Operating Expenses, or Interest Expense.
Step-by-step explanation:
Earnings per share (EPS) is a key financial metric that investors use to assess a company's profitability on a per-share basis. It should be reported for profitability measures such as Net Income, but not for individual income statement captions that do not directly represent profitability. Therefore, earnings per share should not be reported for Revenue, Operating Expenses, or Interest Expense individually; it is calculated solely based on the company's net income.
Earnings per share is calculated as follows:
EPS = Net Income / Average Outstanding Shares
The only item among the options that represents profit is Net Income. This is because it is the actual earnings of the company after all expenses and taxes have been deducted. Revenue is just the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services, and does not take into account the costs associated with generating that revenue. Operating expenses are the costs of running the company that are not directly tied to the production of goods or services. Interest expense is the cost of borrowing money and also does not reflect the company's profitability.