Which companies could struggle with their debt?
Debt is cheap until profits fall or rates rise. A company that barely earns its interest has little room for a bad year, and in a downturn it may have to cut investment, sell assets or issue shares to stay current.
Updated Sep 27, 2026
38 strained
38 of 384 S&P 500 companies outside finance earn less than twice their interest bill from operations. Across all of them, operating profit covers interest 8.6 times, stronger than in 86% of quarters since 2014.
Over time
Select the market or any company below to see its interest cover by quarter.
The 60 thinnest interest cushions
Ranked by operating profit over interest expense, lowest first; companies with more cash than debt are left out. Strain scores the same from 0 to 100, highest for the thinnest cover. Select a column to sort.
| Company | Strain | Interest cover | Net debt / EBITDA | Interest a year | Sector | Cover, 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TAP Molson Coors Beverage Company | 100Losing money | -14.8x | – | $169.8M | Consumer Staples | |
| IP International Paper | 100Losing money | -8.8x | – | $315.0M | Materials | |
| PSKY Paramount Skydance Corporation | 99Losing money | -5.8x | – | $944.0M | Communication Services | |
| ARE Alexandria Real Estate Equities | 99Losing money | -5.4x | 29.0x | $249.5M | Real Estate | |
| CAG Conagra Brands | 99Losing money | -4.5x | – | $380.0M | Consumer Staples | |
| KHC Kraft Heinz | 98Losing money | -4.3x | – | $757.0M | Consumer Staples | |
| APD Air Products | 98Losing money | -2.7x | 12.9x | $221.2M | Materials | |
| BA Boeing | 98Losing money | -2.0x | 3.7x | $2.6B | Industrials | |
| TTWO Take-Two Interactive | 97Losing money | -1.7x | 0.7x | $93.2M | Communication Services | |
| GILD Gilead Sciences | 97Losing money | -1.5x | 36.3x | $998.0M | Health Care | |
| BAX Baxter International | 97Losing money | -0.9x | 9.7x | $292.0M | Health Care | |
| VTRS Viatris | 97Losing money | -0.2x | 4.5x | $480.0M | Health Care | |
| DOW Dow Inc. | 96Losing money | 0.0x | 6.7x | $869.0M | Materials | |
| INTC Intel | 96Strained | 0.1x | 5.7x | $1.1B | Information Technology | |
| VST Vistra Corp. | 96Strained | 0.3x | 3.0x | $1.1B | Utilities | |
| SATS EchoStar | 96Strained | 0.5x | – | $2.1B | Communication Services | |
| AXON Axon Enterprise | 95Strained | 0.7x | 2.4x | $114.5M | Industrials | |
| MOS Mosaic Company (The) | 95Strained | 0.7x | 3.3x | $227.5M | Materials | |
| WBD Warner Bros. Discovery | 95Strained | 0.9x | 4.7x | $2.2B | Communication Services | |
| WELL Welltower | 94Strained | 0.9x | 5.2x | $740.5M | Real Estate | |
| EXR Extra Space Storage | 94Strained | 1.0x | 4.1x | $1.5B | Real Estate | |
| VTR Ventas | 94Strained | 1.1x | 5.3x | $770.3M | Real Estate | |
| O Realty Income | 93Strained | 1.5x | 0.5x | $1.2B | Real Estate | |
| SNPS Synopsys | 93Strained | 1.5x | 1.8x | $624.1M | Information Technology | |
| BLDR Builders FirstSource | 93Strained | 1.5x | 4.4x | $287.6M | Industrials | |
| DOC Healthpeak Properties | 93Strained | 1.5x | 4.7x | $337.0M | Real Estate | |
| IRM Iron Mountain | 92Strained | 1.6x | 6.8x | $900.2M | Real Estate | |
| AES AES Corporation | 92Strained | 1.6x | 6.7x | $1.4B | Utilities | |
| PCG PG&E Corporation | 92Strained | 1.7x | 6.1x | $3.1B | Utilities | |
| DTE DTE Energy | 92Strained | 1.8x | 6.5x | $1.1B | Utilities | |
| LNT Alliant Energy | 91Strained | 1.8x | 5.8x | $554.0M | Utilities | |
| NCLH Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings | 91Strained | 1.8x | 5.7x | $835.7M | Consumer Discretionary | |
| KIM Kimco Realty | 91Strained | 1.9x | 5.1x | $413.0M | Real Estate | |
| WYNN Wynn Resorts | 91Strained | 1.9x | 4.4x | $617.9M | Consumer Discretionary | |
| BXP BXP, Inc. | 90Strained | 2.0x | 8.1x | $620.1M | Real Estate | |
| SW Smurfit Westrock | 90Watch | 2.0x | 3.9x | $814.0M | Materials | |
| ETR Entergy | 90Watch | 2.0x | 5.3x | $1.5B | Utilities | |
| CMS CMS Energy | 89Watch | 2.0x | 6.0x | $816.0M | Utilities | |
| XEL Xcel Energy | 89Watch | 2.1x | 5.7x | $1.5B | Utilities | |
| LYB LyondellBasell | 89Watch | 2.1x | 4.5x | $492.0M | Materials | |
| CCI Crown Castle | 89Watch | 2.1x | 6.3x | $946.0M | Real Estate | |
| WY Weyerhaeuser | 88Watch | 2.1x | 4.2x | $273.0M | Real Estate | |
| ESS Essex Property Trust | 88Watch | 2.2x | 5.0x | $260.1M | Real Estate | |
| D Dominion Energy | 88Watch | 2.2x | 3.0x | $2.1B | Utilities | |
| CNP CenterPoint Energy | 87Watch | 2.2x | 6.2x | $1.0B | Utilities | |
| SO Southern Company | 87Watch | 2.2x | 5.1x | $3.3B | Utilities | |
| ES Eversource Energy | 87Watch | 2.3x | 5.6x | $1.4B | Utilities | |
| INVH Invitation Homes | 87Watch | 2.3x | 5.0x | $371.0M | Real Estate | |
| EL Estée Lauder Companies (The) | 86Watch | 2.3x | 4.9x | $334.0M | Consumer Staples | |
| SRE Sempra | 86Watch | 2.4x | 5.6x | $1.6B | Utilities | |
| FE FirstEnergy | 86Watch | 2.4x | 6.2x | $1.2B | Utilities | |
| NI NiSource | 86Watch | 2.4x | 5.4x | $780.8M | Utilities | |
| EXC Exelon | 85Watch | 2.4x | 5.6x | $2.2B | Utilities | |
| EVRG Evergy | 85Watch | 2.4x | 5.8x | $650.4M | Utilities | |
| DUK Duke Energy | 85Watch | 2.4x | 5.6x | $3.8B | Utilities | |
| TDG TransDigm Group | 85Watch | 2.4x | 6.1x | $1.9B | Industrials | |
| UDR UDR, Inc. | 84Watch | 2.5x | 4.4x | $196.5M | Real Estate | |
| MGM MGM Resorts | 84Watch | 2.5x | 1.8x | $409.0M | Consumer Discretionary | |
| EIX Edison International | 84Watch | 2.5x | 5.4x | $1.8B | Utilities | |
| CHTR Charter Communications | 84Watch | 2.5x | 4.7x | $5.1B | Communication Services |
How to read this page
How it’s measured. Operating profit over interest expense for the last four reported quarters, for S&P 500 companies outside finance with at least $10 million a year in interest. Net debt to EBITDA uses the latest balance sheet.
Sources. Company financial statements from Financial Modeling Prep.
Interest cover is operating profit, before interest and taxes, divided by interest expense. Below 2x leaves little room for a bad year; one-off charges can push a healthy company down this list for a quarter or two.
Utilities and real estate run with more debt by design because their cash flows are steadier, so compare them with each other. Banks and insurers are left out.
This page is information, not investment advice. About our data and methods ›