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Altman Z-Score Calculator
Calculate Altman Z-Score for any public company. Instant bankruptcy risk analysis using balance sheet data — Safe, Grey, or Distress zone verdict.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
How accurate is the Altman Z-Score model?
In Altman's original 1968 study, the model predicted bankruptcy with 94% accuracy on the training sample and 72–80% accuracy in out-of-sample tests. More recent reviews show the model still outperforms chance across decades of data, but it is less reliable for service, financial, and technology companies than for manufacturers. Use the Z-Score as a first-pass screening tool — not a definitive verdict — and pair it with cash flow analysis and covenant review for companies in the grey or distress zone.
What is the difference between the original and modified Z-Score?
Altman published three variants: the original Z-Score (1968) for publicly traded manufacturers; the Z'-Score (1983) for private firms, which substitutes book value of equity for market cap in the X4 term; and the Z''-Score for non-manufacturing and service companies, which omits the revenue/assets term. The Basis Report calculator uses the original public-company formula. If you're analyzing a private company or a service business, the Z'- or Z''-Score thresholds differ from the 1.81 and 2.99 cutoffs used here.
FINISHED THE NUMBERS?
A calculator gives you one number. The report gives you the argument.
Assumptions, scenarios, and what breaks them — on any public company.
See a sample report →