Benchmark Electronics Inc key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, Benchmark Electronics Inc had return on equity of 2.3%, an operating margin of 2.9%, debt equal to 19.1% of equity and a current ratio of 2.28. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2009Dec 2009 | 2010Dec 2010 | 2011Dec 2011 | 2012Dec 2012 | 2013Dec 2013 | 2014Dec 2014 | 2015Dec 2015 | 2016Dec 2016 | 2017Dec 2017 | 2018Dec 2018 | 2019Dec 2019 | 2020Dec 2020 | 2021Dec 2021 | 2022Dec 2022 | 2023Dec 2023 | 2024Dec 2024 | 2025Dec 2025 | LTMSept 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 7.0% | 7.8% | 6.2% | 7.2% | 7.4% | 7.9% | 8.6% | 9.2% | 9.2% | 8.0% | 8.2% | 8.5% | 9.1% | 8.8% | 9.5% | 10.2% | 10.2% | 10.4% |
| Operating margin | 2.5% | 3.7% | 1.8% | 3.1% | 4.6% | 3.6% | 3.7% | 3.3% | 3.1% | 2.3% | 1.3% | 1.2% | 2.4% | 3.1% | 3.9% | 4.1% | 2.9% | 3.5% |
| Net margin | 2.6% | 3.3% | 2.3% | 2.3% | 4.4% | 2.9% | 3.8% | 2.8% | −1.3% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 1.6% | 2.4% | 2.4% | 2.3% | 0.9% | 1.9% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 4.8% | −1.3% | −0.7% | 4.2% | 2.9% | 3.3% | 4.3% | 10.4% | 3.9% | 0.5% | 2.7% | 4.2% | −1.8% | −7.7% | 3.6% | 5.9% | 3.3% | 3.9% |
| Return on equity | 4.9% | 7.2% | 4.6% | 5.0% | 9.4% | 6.5% | 7.3% | 4.8% | −2.4% | 1.8% | 2.2% | 1.4% | 3.6% | 6.8% | 6.5% | 5.6% | 2.3% | 5.0% |
| Return on assets | 3.6% | 5.4% | 3.5% | 3.8% | 7.0% | 4.9% | 5.3% | 3.3% | −1.5% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 0.8% | 2.0% | 3.3% | 3.1% | 2.8% | 1.2% | 2.6% |
| Asset turnover | 1.43 | 1.63 | 1.51 | 1.64 | 1.59 | 1.68 | 1.42 | 1.19 | 1.19 | 1.28 | 1.24 | 1.17 | 1.24 | 1.40 | 1.26 | 1.20 | 1.26 | 1.34 |
| Current ratio | 3.53 | 3.77 | 3.41 | 3.67 | 3.37 | 3.84 | 4.17 | 3.71 | 3.41 | 2.61 | 2.60 | 2.50 | 2.06 | 2.21 | 2.29 | 2.32 | 2.28 | 1.87 |
| Debt to equity | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 18.1% | 16.6% | 16.0% | 13.8% | 14.6% | 14.2% | 13.4% | 31.7% | 30.7% | 23.3% | 19.1% | 14.0% |
| Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest) | 37.4x | 64.9x | 31.1x | 47.8x | 60.3x | 53.0x | 31.0x | 8.3x | 8.2x | 5.6x | 4.3x | 3.0x | 6.3x | 7.0x | 3.4x | 4.1x | 3.8x | 6.9x |
| Effective tax rate | −3.8% | 8.3% | −26.3% | 25.0% | 4.3% | 17.6% | −6.0% | 7.9% | — | 58.9% | 14.1% | 18.7% | 21.2% | 19.1% | 15.1% | 27.1% | 59.6% | 37.7% |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 4.1% | 3.8% | 4.0% | 3.6% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 4.2% | 4.9% | 5.3% | 5.0% | 5.6% | 6.0% | 6.1% | 5.2% | 5.2% | 5.6% | 6.0% | 6.0% |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 1.1% | 1.5% | 3.2% | 1.9% | 1.1% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 2.1% | 2.4% | 1.4% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.5% | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.8% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | 189.7% | −38.4% | −32.0% | 182.4% | 65.1% | 113.8% | 115.6% | 379.5% | — | 60.8% | 258.5% | 610.8% | −115.8% | −323.7% | 146.2% | 258.4% | 355.5% | 207.7% |
| Dividends ÷ net income | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0.0% | — | 92.1% | 99.4% | 163.9% | 65.0% | 33.9% | 34.0% | 39.1% | 98.3% | 43.4% |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | 27.6% | — | — | 45.6% | 57.0% | 47.4% | 62.0% | 17.3% | 30.9% | >999% | 240.1% | 56.2% | — | — | 23.3% | 18.4% | 58.0% | 33.9% |
| Quarter | 2024 Q4Dec 2024 | 2025 Q1Mar 2025 | 2025 Q2Jun 2025 | 2025 Q3Sept 2025 | 2025 Q4Dec 2025 | 2026 Q1Mar 2026 | 2026 Q2Jun 2026 | 2026 Q3Sept 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 10.3% | 10.0% | 10.1% | 10.0% | 10.5% | 10.2% | 10.4% | 10.4% |
| Operating margin | 4.3% | 1.9% | 3.2% | 3.5% | 2.9% | 3.2% | 4.0% | 3.8% |
| Net margin | 2.5% | 0.6% | 0.2% | 2.1% | 0.8% | 1.9% | 2.6% | 2.1% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 5.7% | 4.4% | −2.4% | 3.7% | 6.8% | 4.6% | 2.9% | 1.9% |
| Current ratio | 2.32 | 2.37 | 2.36 | 2.32 | 2.28 | 2.18 | 1.99 | 1.87 |
| Debt to equity | 23.3% | 24.9% | 18.7% | 19.5% | 19.1% | 18.7% | 16.2% | 14.0% |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 5.7% | 6.1% | 6.3% | 6.1% | 5.5% | 6.3% | 6.1% | 6.2% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $1.7bn of assets due within a year against $910m of liabilities due within a year.
- Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $1.7bn short-term assets against $279m of longer-dated liabilities.
- More cash than debt $291m of cash against $158m of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 14% of equity.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 21% to 14% over five years.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $170m of operating cash flow against $158m of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $103m against $15m of interest.
Moat
Weak moat
How hard Benchmark Electronics'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 6 / 20
Cash operating profit has been a median 6.1% of total assets over 10 years.
- Pricing power 8 / 20
Gross margin has been a median 9.2%, moving by 0.8 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
- Durability 1 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 3.1%; its worst year was 0.2%.
- Cash conversion 8 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 7 of 10 years, at a median 2.5% of revenue.
- Discipline 17 / 20
The diluted share count fell 0.3% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.5% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (40 before it).
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