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Net Debt Calculator
Calculate a company's true debt burden after netting off available cash. Enter any US-listed ticker to pull total debt, cash, and cash equivalents from live balance sheet data — or input values manually — then see a visual debt-vs-cash breakdown and a Net Debt/EBITDA leverage tier verdict.
What Is Net Debt?
Net debt strips away the misleading optics of gross debt by subtracting the cash a company could deploy immediately. A company carrying $5B in bonds but sitting on $6B in cash is actually in a net cash position — not a borrower at all.
| Term | What it is |
|---|---|
| Total Debt | All financial borrowings — short-term debt, current portion of long-term debt, long-term bonds, notes payable |
| − Cash | Physical cash on the balance sheet — immediately available to repay debt |
| − Cash Equivalents | Short-term, highly liquid investments (T-bills, money market funds) convertible to cash in <90 days |
| = Net Debt | The residual debt burden the company would carry after deploying all available liquidity; negative = net cash |
How to Use This Calculator
Enter a ticker or go manual
Type any US-listed ticker to auto-populate total debt, cash, and cash equivalents from live balance sheet filings — or switch to Manual to enter your own figures.
Read the debt-vs-cash bar
The visual bar shows total debt in red and total cash in green. The residual is net debt — or a net cash position if cash exceeds debt.
Check the leverage tier
The Net Debt/EBITDA badge places the company on a five-tier spectrum: Net Cash, Conservative, Moderate, Elevated, or Dangerous.
Compare to peers
Use the Net Debt/EBITDA screener to rank this company against mid- and large-cap peers in the same sector.
Key Concepts
Net debt vs. gross debt
Gross debt is the raw total of all borrowings. Net debt adjusts for available liquidity, making it a more meaningful measure for comparing companies with different cash positions. Amazon and Apple both carry significant gross debt — but both also sit on massive cash hoards, making their net positions far less alarming than the headlines suggest.
Net Debt/EBITDA — the leverage ratio
Dividing net debt by EBITDA tells you how many years of operating earnings would be needed to repay all net debt. Lenders typically set covenant limits at 3–4×. Private equity buyouts often push to 6–7×. Investment-grade companies typically target below 2×. Use the ND/EBITDA screener to see where your company stands against peers.
What counts as cash equivalents?
Cash equivalents are short-term, highly liquid investments with original maturities of 90 days or less: Treasury bills, commercial paper, money market fund shares. Short-term investments (3–12 month maturities) are sometimes included depending on analyst convention. This calculator uses the balance sheet's short-term investments line as a proxy.
Net debt and solvency analysis
Net debt pairs naturally with the debt ratio (total debt ÷ total assets) and the current ratio (current assets ÷ current liabilities). Together they give a 360-degree view of financial risk: how levered the capital structure is, how liquid the near-term position is, and what the true cash-adjusted debt burden looks like.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is net debt?
Net Debt = Total Debt − Cash − Cash Equivalents. It measures the true debt burden after netting off the liquidity a company could immediately deploy to repay borrowings. A negative value means the company is in a net cash position.
How do you calculate net debt?
Add short-term and long-term debt to get total debt. Subtract cash on hand and cash equivalents (T-bills, money market funds). The result is net debt. Enter any US ticker above for live balance sheet data.
What is a good Net Debt/EBITDA ratio?
Below 1× is conservative. 1–2× is moderate and common among investment-grade companies. 2–4× is elevated but manageable for stable industries. Above 4× is dangerous and signals meaningful refinancing risk.
What does a net cash position mean?
When cash and equivalents exceed total debt, net debt is negative — the company has a net cash position. It could technically pay off all debt immediately and still retain cash. Common in cash-generative tech and pharma companies.
FINISHED THE NUMBERS?
A calculator gives you one ratio. The report gives you the argument.
Leverage in context — whether net debt is rising, how EBITDA coverage compares to peers, and what the balance sheet signals about financial risk — on any public company.
See a sample report →