Cash conversion
Whether the reported profit actually arrives as cash.
In plain English
Profit on paper is not money in the bank. This asks how much of the reported profit actually arrived as cash.
Try it with pocket-money numbers. Reported $100 of profit; $70 of cash actually came in. 70 ÷ 100 = 0.7x — some of that “profit” is still IOUs.
That is the whole calculation. The tables below run it on what 414 companies actually filed.
| Formula | Operating cash flow ÷ net income |
|---|---|
| Companies reporting it | 414 of 573 |
| Median | 1.78x |
| Middle half | 1.36x – 2.42x |
| Range | -2.84x – 45.90x |
When it lies. Below 1 for one year is ordinary. Below 1 for five years running is the most reliable early warning in these tables.
By sector
| Sector | n | Median | 25th | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| not classified | 1 | 6.63x | 6.63x | 6.63x |
| Energy | 31 | 2.54x | 2.28x | 3.19x |
| Utilities | 58 | 2.23x | 1.83x | 2.43x |
| Communications | 15 | 2.16x | 1.68x | 2.54x |
| Real estate | 43 | 1.84x | 1.50x | 2.75x |
| Consumer discretionary | 44 | 1.59x | 1.41x | 2.08x |
| Consumer staples | 35 | 1.58x | 1.28x | 2.70x |
| Health care | 40 | 1.55x | 1.11x | 2.01x |
| Materials | 31 | 1.53x | 1.36x | 1.89x |
| Industrials | 77 | 1.51x | 1.17x | 2.01x |
| Technology | 39 | 1.46x | 1.25x | 1.88x |
Highest cash conversion
| # | Ticker | Company | Sector | Cash conversion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CHRD | Chord Energy | Energy | 45.90x |
| 2 | NOG | Northern Oil & Gas | Energy | 38.84x |
| 3 | SND | Smart Sand | Materials | 32.80x |
| 4 | PVH | PVH | Consumer discretionary | 26.89x |
| 5 | WS | Worthington Steel | Materials | 23.67x |
| 6 | KNX | Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings | Industrials | 19.21x |
| 7 | DOC | Healthpeak Properties | Real estate | 17.55x |
| 8 | GPC | Genuine Parts | Industrials | 13.51x |
| 9 | STM | STMicroelectronics N.V. | Technology | 12.96x |
| 10 | MUR | Murphy Oil | Energy | 11.97x |
| 11 | EE | Excelerate Energy | Utilities | 11.77x |
| 12 | GM | General Motors | Industrials | 9.96x |
| 13 | EL | Estee Lauder Companies | Consumer staples | 9.74x |
| 14 | IRM | Iron Mountain | Real estate | 8.80x |
| 15 | GOLD | Gold.com | Industrials | 8.80x |
| 16 | NOV | NOV | Industrials | 8.63x |
| 17 | RLJ | RLJ Lodging Trust | Real estate | 8.55x |
| 18 | NXST | Nexstar Media Group | Communications | 8.17x |
| 19 | KR | Kroger | Consumer staples | 7.20x |
| 20 | CCI | Crown Castle | Real estate | 6.89x |
Lowest
| # | Ticker | Company | Sector | Cash conversion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 414 | LITS | Lite Strategy | Health care | -2.84x |
| 413 | RITM | Rithm Capital | Real estate | -1.85x |
| 412 | ARDT | Ardent Health | Health care | -0.20x |
| 411 | LEN | Lennar | Industrials | 0.10x |
| 410 | CKX | CKX Lands | Energy | 0.22x |
| 409 | DSWL | Deswell Industries | Materials | 0.49x |
| 408 | NOBH | Nobility Homes | Materials | 0.49x |
| 407 | KO | Coca Cola | Consumer staples | 0.57x |
| 406 | SUI | Sun Communities | Real estate | 0.61x |
| 405 | IIIN | Insteel Industries | Materials | 0.66x |