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.

Starbucks SBUX Debt-to-equity

Discontinued — last reported Q4 '18

Debt-to-equity at other companies

Chipotle Mexican GrillCMG

2.2×+0.9×

Keurig Dr PepperKDP

1×+0.4×

Restaurant Brands InternationalQSR

4.2×-0.9×

Casey's General StoresCASY

0.8×-0.2×

PepsiCoPEP

2.5×-0.2×

Costco WholesaleCOST

0.2×-0.1×

Other financials

Income statement

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Revenue$9.5B+8.8%

Operating income$828.1M+37.8%

Net income$510.9M+33.0%

EPS (diluted)$0.45+32.4%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$1.5B-42.7%

Total debt$24.4B-6.2%

Total equity-$8.5B-11.1%

Total assets$30.6B-3.4%

Cash flow

See full

Operating cash flow$364.5M+24.8%

CapEx$272.7M-53.7%

Free cash flow$91.8M—

Valuation

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Market cap$113.76B-8.4%

Enterprise value$136.62B-7.3%

P/E76.1×+36.4×

P/S3×-0.5×

Profitability

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Gross margin72.3%—

Operating margin7.6%-4.9pp

Net margin3.9%-4.7pp

Returns & leverage

See full

Return on equity136.5%—

Current ratio0.9×+0.3×

Where this comes from

Calculated from Starbucks’s reported figures.

total debt/total stockholders equity=7.8×

Based on the most recent quarter.

The official record: Starbucks’s 10-K, filed November 19, 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.