 Companies aren't in the business to just break even. They are in the business to make a profit. We can use the same formulas learned earlier to determine the number of units sold to earn some target operating income. So let's assume the following. Price is $50, variable cost is $30, therefore our contribution margin is $20, and fixed costs are $10,000. The company would like to earn $25,000 of operating income. So the calculation is $10,000 of fixed costs plus $25,000 of targeted operating income divided by the contribution margin per unit, which is $20. So the company would need to sell 1,750 units to meet the target operating income.