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Altman Z-Score Calculator
Calculate the Altman Z-Score for any US-listed public company. Enter a ticker to get instant bankruptcy risk analysis — Safe Zone, Grey Zone, or Distress Zone — with a full breakdown of all five components.
Enter a ticker to calculate Z-Score
Try AAPL, F, or any US-listed company. The calculator fetches live balance sheet data and computes the Altman Z-Score instantly.
How to use this Altman Z-Score calculator
Enter a ticker and click Analyze
Type any US-listed ticker — AAPL, F, BA, HTZ — and click Analyze. The calculator fetches the most recent annual balance sheet, income statement, and market cap from Yahoo Finance automatically. No manual data entry needed.
Read the zone verdict and Z-score
The large score number is color-coded: green for Safe (above 2.99), yellow for Grey Zone (1.81–2.99), red for Distress (below 1.81). The gauge bar shows where the score sits relative to both thresholds at a glance.
Inspect the component breakdown
The table shows each of the five ratios (X1–X5), their raw value, and weighted contribution to the final score. This tells you which factor is driving the result — for example, a low X3 means poor operating efficiency, while a low X4 signals high leverage relative to market value.
Verify the raw inputs and go deeper
All nine balance sheet values used in the calculation are shown so you can cross-check against the company's latest 10-K. For distress zone companies, run a DCF analysis and check earnings quality before drawing any conclusions.
Altman Z-Score — Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Altman Z-Score?
The Altman Z-Score is a bankruptcy prediction formula developed by Professor Edward Altman in 1968. Using discriminant analysis on a sample of publicly traded manufacturers, Altman combined five financial ratios into a single score: Z = 1.2×(Working Capital/Total Assets) + 1.4×(Retained Earnings/Total Assets) + 3.3×(EBIT/Total Assets) + 0.6×(Market Cap/Total Liabilities) + 1.0×(Revenue/Total Assets). A score above 2.99 indicates low bankruptcy risk within two years; below 1.81 signals high risk.
What Z-score is considered safe?
A Z-score above 2.99 places a company in the Safe Zone — the Altman model predicts a very low probability of bankruptcy within two years. Scores between 1.81 and 2.99 fall in the Grey Zone, where the outcome is uncertain and warrants closer monitoring. A score below 1.81 is the Distress Zone, indicating elevated bankruptcy risk. These thresholds were calibrated on US manufacturing firms; adjust interpretation for other sectors and market conditions.
Does the Altman Z-Score work for all companies?
No. The original Altman Z-Score was designed for publicly traded US manufacturers. It is less reliable for financial sector companies — banks, insurance firms, and diversified financials — because their balance sheets carry high leverage by design, which would generate artificially low scores. It is also less applicable to very early-stage companies with negative retained earnings, non-US firms with different accounting standards, and asset-light businesses where total assets understate enterprise value. Use it as a first screen, not a definitive verdict.