Brown–Forman key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2026, Brown–Forman had return on equity of 17.8%, an operating margin of 25.5%, debt equal to 62.2% of equity and a current ratio of 3.24. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Brown–Forman: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2010Apr 2010	2011Apr 2011	2012Apr 2012	2013Apr 2013	2014Apr 2014	2015Apr 2015	2016Apr 2016	2017Apr 2017	2018Apr 2018	2019Apr 2019	2020Apr 2020	2021Apr 2021	2022Apr 2022	2023Apr 2023	2024Apr 2024	2025Apr 2025	2026Apr 2026	LTMJul 2026
Gross margin	49.9%	50.6%	49.7%	51.7%	52.7%	53.3%	53.5%	67.5%	67.8%	65.2%	63.2%	60.5%	60.8%	59.0%	60.5%	58.9%	60.5%	60.7%
Operating margin	22.0%	25.1%	21.8%	23.7%	24.6%	25.1%	38.2%	33.7%	32.3%	34.4%	32.4%	33.7%	30.6%	26.7%	33.8%	27.8%	25.5%	25.4%
Net margin	13.9%	16.8%	14.2%	15.6%	16.7%	16.7%	26.6%	22.3%	22.1%	25.1%	24.6%	26.1%	21.3%	18.5%	24.5%	21.9%	18.2%	18.4%
Free-cash-flow margin	15.8%	14.3%	12.7%	11.7%	13.3%	11.9%	10.4%	18.2%	16.2%	20.5%	18.2%	21.8%	20.3%	10.8%	10.0%	10.8%	22.7%	23.6%
Return on equity	23.7%	28.9%	24.8%	32.0%	36.0%	34.7%	61.6%	45.6%	53.4%	56.4%	45.7%	39.0%	31.1%	26.1%	30.2%	23.1%	17.8%	18.0%
Return on assets	13.3%	16.1%	14.3%	16.6%	17.1%	16.5%	25.5%	15.2%	14.9%	16.5%	15.2%	14.7%	13.0%	11.1%	12.8%	10.7%	8.9%	9.2%
Asset turnover	0.95	0.96	1.01	1.07	1.02	0.99	0.96	0.68	0.68	0.66	0.62	0.56	0.61	0.60	0.52	0.49	0.49	0.50
Current ratio	2.80	2.79	4.33	3.85	3.88	2.35	2.82	2.42	3.11	3.87	3.71	4.27	3.65	3.51	2.59	3.88	3.24	3.26
Debt to equity	36.9%	36.8%	24.6%	61.5%	49.5%	62.1%	96.1%	156.9%	194.2%	148.1%	131.7%	96.3%	82.9%	89.1%	88.2%	68.5%	62.2%	61.5%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	22.9x	29.5x	25.4x	24.9x	37.3x	38.0x	33.3x	17.1x	15.4x	13.0x	13.3x	14.4x	14.7x	12.5x	11.1x	9.1x	9.7x	9.6x
Effective tax rate	34.2%	31.0%	32.5%	31.7%	30.4%	31.7%	28.3%	28.3%	26.6%	19.9%	18.0%	16.5%	24.8%	23.0%	21.1%	19.6%	19.2%	19.4%
SG&A as % of revenue	16.7%	16.9%	16.9%	17.2%	17.4%	17.0%	17.2%	21.9%	23.6%	19.3%	19.1%	19.4%	17.5%	17.5%	19.8%	18.7%	20.5%	20.8%
Capital spending as % of revenue	1.1%	1.1%	1.6%	2.5%	3.2%	2.9%	2.7%	3.7%	3.9%	3.6%	3.4%	1.8%	3.5%	4.3%	5.5%	4.2%	2.7%	2.2%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	113.8%	85.3%	89.3%	74.8%	79.4%	71.3%	39.0%	81.3%	73.4%	81.6%	73.9%	83.6%	95.2%	58.4%	40.9%	49.6%	124.9%	128.3%
Dividends ÷ net income	38.8%	57.0%	37.4%	179.9%	35.4%	37.4%	24.9%	41.0%	107.8%	37.1%	39.3%	37.4%	99.2%	48.3%	39.5%	48.3%	59.7%	59.1%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	65.0%	94.7%	90.0%	240.5%	53.9%	147.1%	330.0%	153.5%	147.1%	75.9%	53.4%	44.8%	104.1%	82.7%	191.9%	97.4%	92.6%	46.1%

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Brown–Forman: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2025 Q2Oct 2024	2025 Q3Jan 2025	2025 Q4Apr 2025	2026 Q1Jul 2025	2026 Q2Oct 2025	2026 Q3Jan 2026	2026 Q4Apr 2026	2027 Q1Jul 2026
Gross margin	59.0%	59.8%	57.4%	59.7%	59.4%	60.6%	62.6%	60.3%
Operating margin	31.1%	27.1%	22.9%	28.1%	29.4%	32.2%	10.5%	27.7%
Net margin	23.6%	26.1%	16.3%	18.4%	21.6%	25.3%	5.9%	19.3%
Free-cash-flow margin	7.4%	26.3%	11.4%	14.0%	10.3%	37.1%	29.1%	17.7%
Current ratio	2.70	3.49	3.88	2.79	2.97	2.77	3.24	3.26
Debt to equity	72.6%	69.6%	60.6%	60.7%	58.5%	59.9%	60.5%	52.5%
SG&A as % of revenue	16.9%	17.2%	21.6%	19.2%	18.1%	17.4%	28.4%	20.3%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

5 of 7 checks passed · July 31, 2026

What it owns · $7.8bn

Short-term assets $4.0bnLonger-term assets $3.9bn

What it owes, and who funded it · $7.8bn

Short-term liabilities $1.2bnLonger-term liabilities $2.6bnShareholders' equity $4.0bn

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $4.0bn of assets due within a year against $1.2bn of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $4.0bn short-term assets against $2.6bn of longer-dated liabilities.
More cash than debt $301m of cash against $2.1bn of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 52% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 82% to 52% over five years.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $1.0bn of operating cash flow against $2.1bn of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $993m against $103m of interest.

From Brown–Forman's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

95 /100

Strong moat

How hard Brown–Forman's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 20 / 20

Net income has been a median 12.9% of total assets over 10 years.
Pricing power 18 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 60.8%, moving by 4.0 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
Durability 20 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 31.8%; its worst year was 25.4%.
Cash conversion 19 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 18.4% of revenue.
Discipline 18 / 20

The diluted share count fell 3.6% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.5% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from Brown–Forman's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Brown–Forman.