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Inventory Days

The translation of the inventory balance-sheet line into days, computed as inventory divided by daily cost of goods sold. Same concept as Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO). Reading inventory in days rather than dollars eliminates the scale problem — a $200M inventory balance is unremarkable for a $4B-revenue retailer (about 30 days at typical retail COGS) and alarming for a $400M-revenue specialty business (180 days, suggesting either a demand slowdown the income statement has not yet booked or a deliberate pre-build for a known seasonal peak). Rising inventory days over multiple quarters is one of the earliest leading indicators of revenue weakness.

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Related terms

Accounts Payable · Adjusted EBITDA · Adjusted EBITDA Ex-SBC · ADR · ARPU · Average Length Of Stay

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