Revenue up but profit down usually means...

Costs are growing faster than sales

Reading a company report

Own a share and you own a slice of a business. Its report card is the financial report: every quarter in the US and Indonesia, every half-year for many firms in the UK, EU and Australia.
Revenue is all the money coming in from sales. Profit is what is left after every cost, including tax. Check whether both grow year after year.
Example: a café chain sells US$1,000,000 in a year. Coffee, rent, wages and tax cost US$900,000. Profit is US$100,000: 10 cents from every dollar of sales.
One report tells you little. Line up several. Revenue rising while profit shrinks means costs grow faster than sales. Debt rising faster than profit is another red flag.
Cash flow is the real cash going in and out. A company can book a profit while customers still owe it money. If that cash never arrives, the profit was only on paper.
Common mistake
Myth: “A big profit means a safe company.” Germany's Wirecard reported profits for years, then admitted in 2020 that €1.9 billion of its cash probably did not exist. It collapsed within days.
Key takeaway
Ask three questions: is revenue growing, is profit keeping up, and is real cash coming in? Debt growing faster than profit is a red flag.

Revenue is... Money from sales before costsRevenue is the total from sales. Profit is only what remains after all costs are taken off.
Revenue up but profit down usually means... Costs are growing faster than salesIf sales grow but less is left over, costs are eating into profit. That's worth a closer look.
Profits without cash flow can mean... Customers have not paid yetSales on credit count as revenue and profit before the cash arrives. If customers never pay, that profit never becomes real money.
A company's profit grew 5%, but its debt grew 40%. This is... A red flag worth checkingDebt growing much faster than profit can become hard to repay, especially if interest rates rise.