ELEstée Lauder Companies (The)
Is it safe?
Forensics clean, with a caveat: a safe balance sheet and clean books, but heavy debt (BB) and big price swings.
Financially healthy, low distress risk Altman Z-score, a bankruptcy-risk model from five balance-sheet ratios.
Reported earnings show no manipulation flags Beneish M-score, a forensic model that detects earnings-manipulation patterns (receivables outrunning sales, margins slipping, accrual-heavy profit).
Mixed fundamental signals Piotroski F-score, nine pass/fail tests of year-over-year financial health across profitability, balance sheet and efficiency. 7 to 9 is strong, 0 to 3 weak.
Insiders were net sellers (-$11.8M, 90 days to Oct 8, 2026), selling is often routine.
Moderately leveraged. A rule of thumb on leverage, not a credit rating.
Large price swings, high volatility. Worst drawdown -86% · now 17% below its 52-week high.
Unless marked, from SEC EDGAR, as of Jun 30, 2025.
Against the whole market›
Percentile against every name Ryufin tracks. Higher is better; the tick marks the middle of the market. Context, not one of the checks above.
Where this answer is blind. Altman sits structurally low for utilities and pipelines; Beneish runs high for fast growers, since sales growth alone lifts it; banks and REITs are excluded.
Can EL take a bad year?
Estée Lauder Companies (The) carries $3.81B of net debt at 2.42× EBITDA: a load its earnings can carry.
Net debt · as at Q4 2026 · under two and a half years of EBITDA, comfortable
- Net debt / EBITDA
- 2.42×
Net debt / EBITDA · 99.9× a year ago · the load is coming down
- Altman Z-score
- 2.64
Altman Z-score · grey zone, between 1.8 and 3
- Interest cover
- 2.34×
Interest cover · operating profit covers the interest bill, with room to spare
Details›
- Total debtQ4 2026
- $7.31B
- Cash and short-term investments
- $3.50B
- Net debt
- $3.81B
- EBITDA, trailing twelve months
- $1.58B
- Operating profit, trailing twelve months
- $780M
- Debt / equity
- 1.92×
- Total debt / EBITDA
- 4.64×
- Annualised volatilitytwo years of daily moves
- 51%
- Worst drawdown on file
- −86%
- Below its 52-week high
- 17%
Balance sheet from SEC filings; drawdown and volatility from end-of-day closes; Altman Z from the filed statements.
Household & Personal Products
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