Three reads before you cheer a profit number.
01
Net profit is the pie. EPS is your slice. The headline is the company's number. Earnings per share is yours. A pie that grows 40 while the slices multiply 25 leaves you with 12. Always read the per-share line, never the aggregate alone.
02
Find the share count trend. Net profit is on the front page. Shares outstanding sit three pages in. If the count keeps climbing faster than profit per share, the growth is being bought with your ownership, one issue at a time.
03
Read diluted, not basic. The ESOP pool, the convertibles, the warrants are dilution that has not landed yet but will. Diluted EPS counts them now. It is the honest slice. Dilution to fund a return above its cost can still be worth it . just price it in your slice, not theirs.
Net profit is the company's number. EPS is your number. A bigger pie means nothing if it is being sliced thinner than it is growing.