Taking into account expansion of the seating capacity and also a ticket price inflator one can estimate out with a certain level of confidence what the turnover from the stadium is likely to be. So, the more one can eliminate speculation and pure guesswork and rely more on existing patterns that can, with reasonable safety, be projected out for 3 to 5 years, the better for us. These are to be avoided as their margins eventually get competed away as more companies enter the same market. For instance, many of the first internet brokers charged much higher dealing charges than they do now - as more entrants moved into the medium, so average dealing charges have fallen. There is a possibility that dealing might even become a 'free service' given away while the broker makes his money on advertising and other services.
Companies are adept at manipulating the 'earnings' figure through complex accounting methods.
When interest rates are rising, a large debt is the last thing a company wants to have hanging around it's neck. A company that must periodically invest massive amounts of capital on new machinery just to stay in business or ahead of competitors is not particularly attractive. Motor companies, for instance, have major machinery requirements that must get maintained every year and replaced every 5 to 10 years. So, it might make decent profits for 4 years and then spend all the profits it made in the previous 4 years in the 5th year to buy new machinery - this is not going to grow very fast. For instance, the Disney company produces many films.