margin expansion

Meaning

1. 1noununcountablebusiness

   A rise in the share of each sale that remains as profit, often because costs grow more slowly than income.

   Grammar: Usually uncountable: margin expansion continued this quarter.

   Patterns

   • margin expansion in something
   • drive margin expansion

   Analysts expect margin expansion as the company cuts shipping costs.

   Margin expansion helped profits rise even though sales were flat.

   The retailer reported strong margin expansion in its online business.

Common combinations

drive margin expansion

Lower raw material prices will drive margin expansion this year.

gross margin expansion

Gross margin expansion came from better supplier deals.

operating margin expansion

Operating margin expansion lifted profit to a record.

expect margin expansion

Investors expect margin expansion once the new factory opens.

deliver margin expansion

Management promised to deliver margin expansion by next year.

Synonyms and how they differ

margin growth

Margin growth is plainer and means the same, while margin expansion is the usual term in financial analysis.

profit growth

Profit growth can come from selling more, whereas margin expansion means a bigger share of each sale becomes profit.

efficiency gains

Efficiency gains are one possible cause, while margin expansion is the measured result.

Opposites

Word family

margin noun

the difference between income and cost, or a profit percentage

expand verb

to become larger

expansion noun

the process of growing larger

compression noun

a shrinking of margins

Commonly confused: margin expansion or market expansion?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “margin expansion”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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