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.

HP HPQ Debt-to-equity

Discontinued — last reported Q4 '15

Debt-to-equity at other companies

AppleAAPL

0.8×-0.6×

Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHPE

0.9×+0.2×

TD SYNNEXSNX

0.5×0.0×

International Business MachinesIBM

2.3×-0.4×

Best BuyBBY

1.4×-0.1×

MicrosoftMSFT

0.3×0.0×

Other financials

Income statement

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Revenue$14.4B+9.0%

Gross profit$3.0B+10.1%

Operating income$612.0M-6.4%

Net income$450.0M+10.8%

EPS (diluted)$0.49+16.7%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$3.7B+35.6%

Total debt$11.7B-11.8%

Total equity-$144.0M+88.7%

Total assets$42.9B+10.7%

Cash flow

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Operating cash flow$926.0M+2,337%

CapEx$170.0M-7.1%

Free cash flow$756.0M+621%

Valuation

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Market cap$21.2B-20.1%

Enterprise value$29.2B-21.3%

P/E8.3×-2.2×

P/S0.4×-0.1×

Profitability

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Gross margin20.3%-0.8pp

Operating margin5.3%-1.0pp

Net margin4.4%-0.2pp

Returns & leverage

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Return on equity-359.6%—

Current ratio0.8×+0.1×

Where this comes from

Calculated from HP’s reported figures.

total debt/total stockholders equity=0.4×

Based on the most recent quarter.

The official record: HP’s 10-K, filed December 13, 2018, 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.