Earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization (EBIDA) is an important profitability measure used to evaluate a company's financial performance. It evaluates a company's earnings before each of those three non-cash expenses are taken into account. This provides an accurate picture of the company's operational performance. This metric is also called Operating Cash Flow Before Depletion and Amortization (OCF BDA) and should not be confused with EBITDA which does not deduct interest expenses from net earnings.

EBIDA is an important metric that provides investors and financial analysts valuable insight into a company's long-term financial performance, providing a more accurate measure of profitability than other common earnings metrics. It is a more conservative measure than EBITDA because it removes the assumption that taxes due can be used to pay down debt.

The formula to calculate EBIDA is as follows:

EBIDA = Net Operating Income + Interest expense + Depreciation + Amortization

Here, Net Operating Income is the profit of a business after deducting operating expenses and all other non-operating income like realized or unrealized gains from financial instruments. Interest expense is the portion of the company's profit that is allocated to interest payments. Depreciation is the non-cash expense used to account for the decline in value of a company's tangible and intangible assets over time. Amortization is the non-cash expense used to account for the decline in value of a company's intangible assets over time.

By eliminating non-cash expenses such as depreciation and amortization, EBIDA provides valuable insights into a company's real earnings power. Furthermore, this measure also factors in interest payments, which provide analysts with a more real understanding of a company's actual cost of operations.

Overall, EBIDA provides more accurate insights into a company's performance than the other common earnings metrics. It provides a more realistic and conservative measure of profitability, as it eliminates the assumption that taxes due can be used to pay down debt. For investors, it is important to focus on EBIDA as it provides a more comprehensive picture of a company's financial performance. By using this metric, investors can make better decisions when choosing to invest in a particular company.