Non-operating activities include interest expenses, tax rates, and large non-cash items such as depreciation and amortization. By removing the non-operating effects, EBITDA gives investors the ability to focus on the profitability of their operations.
Thomas Edison once speculated: Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
Yet even John Hattie (2008), whose decades of research revealed that feedback was among the most powerful influences on achievement, acknowledges that he has struggled to understand the concept (p. 173). And many writings on the subject don't even attempt to define the term.