The income statement is the easiest financial statement to flatter. The cash flow statement records only what actually moved — and reading the two together reveals most of what a company would rather you missed.
Six Red Flags in a Quarterly Report
Most of what goes wrong at a public company is visible in its filings before it is visible in its share price. The informative parts sit in the notes.
Segment Disclosures: Where Companies Hide the Weak Division
A consolidated income statement shows a company as a single entity. Most companies are several businesses averaged into a figure that describes none of them.