Gross profit is what remains from sales after subtracting only the direct cost of producing what was sold. It is the first profit line on the income statement and the raw material for every profit measure below it: everything else, overheads, interest, and tax, gets paid out of this pot.
As a share of revenue it becomes gross margin, the cleanest read on pricing power. A large, steady gross profit means the company sells for far more than it costs to make, the mark of a durable edge. Compare it across years: gross profit growing faster than revenue means margins are widening and the edge is strengthening.