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Net Debt / EBITDA Screener — Leverage Rankings
Mid/large-cap stocks ranked by net debt to EBITDA, with five leverage buckets from Net Cash to Distressed. Cash-adjusted, unlike a raw debt-to-equity ratio. Filter by sector to isolate leverage risk before committing to a position.
Understanding Net Debt / EBITDA
Net debt to EBITDA is the leverage ratio credit analysts reach for first. It asks a blunt question: if a company devoted all of its cash earnings to repaying debt, how many years would it take? A company at 1.5× could clear its net debt in roughly eighteen months of EBITDA; a company at 7× would need seven years — and a single recession or margin shock could break its ability to service that debt at all. Because it nets cash against debt and scales by earnings power, it is more economically honest than debt measured against equity alone.
The cash offset is what sets net debt apart from total debt. A cash-rich company that carries $10B of debt against $8B of cash has only $2B of net debt — a far lighter real burden than the gross figure implies. This screener rewards balance-sheet liquidity: companies holding more cash than debt land in the Net Cash bucket, a position of genuine financial strength. For the full framework on EBITDA and enterprise-value multiples, see our EV/EBITDA guide.
Industry context is essential. Capital-intensive utilities and pipeline operators run higher net-debt-to-EBITDA multiples comfortably because their cash flows are stable and often regulated. Capital-light technology and consumer companies should carry far less. Use the sector filter and the benchmark bands in the sidebar to compare each company against its own industry's healthy ceiling rather than a single universal cutoff. Pair this with the interest coverage screener to see whether current profits comfortably cover the interest bill, not just the debt principal.
Reading the Leverage Buckets
The five buckets translate the ratio into practical risk language. Net Cash (<0×) means cash exceeds total debt — the strongest possible position. Conservative (0–2×) is comfortably low leverage typical of high-quality balance sheets. Moderate (2–4×) is the normal corporate range most investment-grade companies occupy. Elevated (4–6×) is leverage worth watching — sustainable for stable cash generators but fragile for cyclical ones. Distressed (>6×) signals very high leverage where debt service depends on everything going right.
Frequently asked questions
What is net debt to EBITDA?
Net debt to EBITDA is a leverage ratio calculated as (Total Debt − Cash & Equivalents) ÷ EBITDA. Net debt is total interest-bearing debt minus cash on hand; EBITDA approximates the cash earnings available to service it. The ratio estimates how many years of current cash earnings it would take to repay net debt. Lenders, analysts, and rating agencies rely on it because it is capital-structure aware — it nets out cash and normalizes for earnings power rather than just the equity base.
What is a good net debt to EBITDA ratio?
Below 2× is conservative — net debt repayable in under two years of cash earnings. Between 2× and 4× is a moderate, typical corporate range for investment-grade companies. Above 4× is elevated and worth monitoring; above 6× often signals distress or an aggressive leveraged structure. A negative ratio means net cash — the company holds more cash than debt. Utilities and industrials with stable cash flows can sustain higher multiples than volatile, capital-light businesses, which is why the screener shows sector benchmark bands.
How does net debt differ from total debt?
Total debt is the full sum of interest-bearing obligations. Net debt subtracts cash and equivalents: Net Debt = Total Debt − Cash. Cash could be used to repay debt immediately, so it offsets the true leverage burden. A firm with $10B of debt and $8B of cash carries only $2B of net debt — a far lighter real load than the gross number. This cash offset is what distinguishes net debt to EBITDA from a raw debt-to-equity ratio: it rewards companies that keep liquidity buffers and penalizes those running debt with little cash.
Why is EBITDA used instead of net income in this ratio?
EBITDA strips out interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to approximate the cash a business generates before financing and non-cash accounting choices. That makes it a cleaner proxy for debt-servicing capacity than net income, which is reduced by the very interest expense the ratio is trying to assess and distorted by depreciation schedules and tax structures. EBITDA is not a perfect cash-flow measure — it ignores capital expenditure and working-capital swings — but for comparing leverage across companies it is the standard denominator lenders and covenants use.
How does this screener get its data?
The screener fetches total debt, cash, and EBITDA for mid/large-cap stocks from Yahoo Finance via our API, computes net debt (debt minus cash) and divides by EBITDA. Data refreshes every 6 hours. Stocks with missing or non-positive EBITDA are excluded because the ratio is not meaningful in those cases. The sector filter uses Yahoo Finance's sector classifications.
Should I use net debt to EBITDA for credit analysis?
Yes — it is one of the two ratios most credit analysts lead with. Net debt to EBITDA sizes leverage against earnings, and interest coverage (EBIT ÷ interest expense) tests whether current profits cover the interest bill. Read them together: a company can show a moderate net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio but thin interest coverage if its debt is expensive. Debt covenants frequently set maximum net-debt-to-EBITDA ceilings (commonly 3–4×), so companies near those thresholds warrant close monitoring. Pair this screener with the interest coverage and debt-to-equity screeners for a full solvency picture.