Contribution Margin

What Does Contribution Margin Mean?
A cost accounting concept that allows a company to determine the profitability of individual products.

It is calculated as follows:  

                                            Product Revenue - Product Variable Costs 
                                                              Product Revenue

The phrase "contribution margin" can also refer to a per unit measure of a product's gross operating margin, calculated simply as the product's price minus its total variable costs.

Investopedia explains Contribution Margin
Consider a situation in which a business manager determines that a particular product has a 35% contribution margin, which is below that of other products in the company's product line. This figure can then be used to determine whether variable costs for that product can be reduced, or if the price of the end product could be increased.

If these options are unattractive, the manager may decide to drop the unprofitable product in order to produce an alternate product with a higher contribution margin.