Interest cover
How many times over the profit covers the interest bill.
In plain English
Could the profit pay the interest bill — and how many times over?
Try it with pocket-money numbers. Profit of $50, interest bill of $10: 50 ÷ 10 = 5x — covered five times over.
That is the whole calculation. The tables below run it on what 429 companies actually filed.
| Formula | Operating income ÷ interest expense |
|---|---|
| Companies reporting it | 429 of 573 |
| Median | 4.43x |
| Middle half | 2.16x – 9.09x |
| Range | -42.48x – 912.95x |
When it lies. For a bank, interest is the cost of goods rather than a burden, so the ratio describes nothing. Blank here for that reason.
By sector
| Sector | n | Median | 25th | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technology | 40 | 9.59x | 5.16x | 18.61x |
| Health care | 40 | 6.18x | 4.06x | 15.14x |
| Industrials | 70 | 6.13x | 4.58x | 12.23x |
| Consumer staples | 38 | 5.97x | 2.34x | 9.38x |
| Consumer discretionary | 42 | 5.65x | 2.81x | 12.07x |
| Materials | 39 | 4.48x | -0.86x | 8.49x |
| Energy | 35 | 3.14x | 1.31x | 7.41x |
| Real estate | 37 | 2.69x | 1.40x | 3.34x |
| Utilities | 57 | 2.53x | 2.25x | 3.22x |
| not classified | 1 | 1.49x | 1.49x | 1.49x |
| Communications | 30 | 1.08x | -0.93x | 4.34x |
Highest interest cover
| # | Ticker | Company | Sector | Interest cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IDT | IDT | Communications | 912.95x |
| 2 | PFHO | Pacific Health Care Organization | Health care | 657.71x |
| 3 | CALM | Cal-Maine Foods | Consumer staples | 629.83x |
| 4 | NVDA | Nvidia | Technology | 503.42x |
| 5 | UI | Ubiquiti | Technology | 233.45x |
| 6 | CHE | Chemed | Health care | 193.28x |
| 7 | GOOGL | Alphabet | Technology | 175.32x |
| 8 | FIX | Comfort Systems Usa | Industrials | 145.92x |
| 9 | EME | EMCOR Group | Industrials | 142.55x |
| 10 | TJX | TJX Companies | Consumer discretionary | 92.39x |
| 11 | CTSH | Cognizant Technology Solutions | Technology | 91.59x |
| 12 | META | Meta Platforms | Technology | 76.40x |
| 13 | RMD | Resmed | Health care | 69.73x |
| 14 | XOM | Exxon Mobil | Energy | 68.44x |
| 15 | COST | Costco Wholesale | Consumer discretionary | 67.42x |
| 16 | LEN | Lennar | Industrials | 56.12x |
| 17 | ENSG | Ensign Group | Health care | 53.24x |
| 18 | LRCX | Lam Research | Industrials | 52.60x |
| 19 | MSFT | Microsoft | Technology | 50.88x |
| 20 | NEM | Newmont | Materials | 48.68x |
Lowest
| # | Ticker | Company | Sector | Interest cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 429 | SCLX | Scilex Holding | Health care | -42.48x |
| 428 | KLIC | Kulicke & Soffa Industries | Technology | -24.06x |
| 427 | SEED | Origin Agritech | Consumer staples | -22.40x |
| 426 | AMR | Alpha Metallurgical Resources | Energy | -20.33x |
| 425 | LMNR | Limoneira | Consumer staples | -17.13x |
| 424 | SIDU | Sidus Space | Communications | -16.76x |
| 423 | CXDO | Crexendo | Communications | -14.69x |
| 422 | WLK | Westlake | Materials | -9.23x |
| 421 | CODQL | Coronado Global Resources | Energy | -7.56x |
| 420 | F | Ford Motor | Industrials | -7.31x |