What does price / sales mean?

How many dollars investors pay for each dollar of the company's annual sales.

How do you interpret price / sales?

Useful when earnings are negative or volatile (e.g. early-stage or cyclical firms). Only comparable across companies with similar margins — a sales dollar is worth more at a high-margin business.

How does price / sales compare across companies?

Best compared within a margin cohort; a software P/S and a retailer P/S are not directly comparable.

Xcel Energy XEL Price / sales

Discontinued — last reported Q3 '19

Price / sales at other companies

Nextra EnergyNEE

7×+1.2×

WEC Energy GroupWEC

3.7×-0.1×

Duke EnergyDUK

2.9×+0.3×

ExelonEXC

2×+0.1×

PG&EPCG

1.5×0.0×

CMS

CMS EnergyCMS

2.7×-0.2×

Other financials

Income statement

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Revenue$3.0B-1.2%

Operating income$754.0M+11.4%

Net income$556.0M+15.1%

EPS (diluted)$0.89+5.9%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$1.8B+56.7%

Total debt$39.2B+21.2%

Total equity$23.8B+20.2%

Total assets$84.8B+16.6%

Cash flow

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Operating cash flow$1.7B+65.1%

CapEx$3.0B+52.0%

Free cash flow-$1.3B-38.0%

Valuation

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Market cap$48.36B+21.9%

Enterprise value$85.84B+21.0%

P/E23.1×+2.6×

Profitability

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Gross margin66.6%—

Operating margin17.2%—

Net margin11.1%—

Returns & leverage

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Return on equity9.6%-0.7pp

Debt / equity1.6×0.0×

Current ratio0.8×0.0×

Where this comes from

Calculated from Xcel Energy’s reported figures.

market cap/total revenue=3×

Based on the most recent quarter.

The official record: Xcel Energy’s 10-Q, filed October 29, 2020, on SEC EDGAR. View the filing →

Questions, answered.

What does price / sales mean?: How many dollars investors pay for each dollar of the company's annual sales.
How do you interpret price / sales?: Useful when earnings are negative or volatile (e.g. early-stage or cyclical firms). Only comparable across companies with similar margins — a sales dollar is worth more at a high-margin business.
How does price / sales compare across companies?: Best compared within a margin cohort; a software P/S and a retailer P/S are not directly comparable.