What does debt-to-equity mean?

How much debt the company carries for every dollar of shareholder equity.

How do you interpret debt-to-equity?

Lower is generally safer, but moderate leverage can boost returns. Read in the context of cash-flow stability — a utility tolerates more debt than a cyclical. Negative equity makes the ratio meaningless and it is suppressed there.

How does debt-to-equity compare across companies?

Comparable within an industry; capital structures differ sharply across sectors. Not meaningful for banks.

F5, Inc. FFIV Debt-to-equity

Discontinued — last reported Q4 '20

Debt-to-equity at other companies

Cisco Systems, Inc.CSCO

0.7×0.0×

AmazonAMZN

0.5×0.0×

Akamai TechnologiesAKAM

0.4×+0.1×

FortinetFTNT

0.6×0.0×

Cloudflare, Inc.NET

0.2×0.0×

Alphabet Inc.GOOGL

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Other financials

Income statement

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Revenue$811.7M+11.0%

Gross profit$660.8M+12.0%

Operating income$179.0M+12.7%

Net income$147.8M+1.5%

EPS (diluted)$2.58+4.0%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$1.4B+14.6%

Total debt$259.9M-2.6%

Total assets$6.5B+10.0%

Cash flow

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Operating cash flow$365.9M+42.6%

CapEx$18.3M+74.7%

Free cash flow$347.6M+41.2%

Valuation

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Market cap$21.71B+6.5%

Enterprise value$20.53B+5.6%

P/E30.7×-2.1×

P/S6.7×-0.2×

Profitability

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Gross margin81.5%+0.6pp

Operating margin24.7%+0.2pp

Net margin22%+0.8pp

Returns & leverage

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Return on equity506.2%—

Current ratio1.6×+0.1×

Where this comes from

Calculated from F5, Inc.’s reported figures.

total debt/total stockholders equity=12.7×

Based on the most recent quarter.

The official record: F5, Inc.’s 10-K, filed November 16, 2021, on SEC EDGAR. View the filing →

Questions, answered.

What does debt-to-equity mean?: How much debt the company carries for every dollar of shareholder equity.
How do you interpret debt-to-equity?: Lower is generally safer, but moderate leverage can boost returns. Read in the context of cash-flow stability — a utility tolerates more debt than a cyclical. Negative equity makes the ratio meaningless and it is suppressed there.
How does debt-to-equity compare across companies?: Comparable within an industry; capital structures differ sharply across sectors. Not meaningful for banks.