Qwest Corp key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Qwest Corp had return on equity of -11.5%, an operating margin of -21.3%, debt equal to 15.9% of equity and a current ratio of 6.90. 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.

Qwest Corp: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	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	LTMMar 2026
Gross margin	67.6%	68.1%	67.4%	68.0%	67.1%	66.3%	68.2%	71.0%	72.7%	75.2%	74.5%	72.8%	72.7%	69.5%	69.7%
Operating margin	21.5%	23.7%	23.9%	25.2%	26.1%	27.1%	31.7%	35.8%	37.1%	44.7%	42.7%	−3.3%	37.2%	−21.3%	−29.5%
Net margin	9.6%	11.0%	11.0%	12.0%	12.2%	19.4%	19.8%	22.7%	23.3%	30.3%	29.8%	−14.0%	27.0%	−27.9%	−40.1%
Free-cash-flow margin	17.0%	16.6%	18.5%	15.0%	15.6%	12.9%	32.8%	28.3%	27.1%	32.2%	27.6%	22.4%	20.8%	19.8%	18.3%
Return on equity	8.5%	9.8%	10.3%	11.9%	12.3%	18.4%	17.3%	18.3%	16.9%	19.4%	15.2%	−6.8%	12.9%	−11.5%	−17.0%
Return on assets	3.5%	4.1%	4.3%	4.9%	5.1%	7.9%	8.0%	8.8%	8.6%	11.4%	10.3%	−4.7%	8.8%	−8.0%	−11.6%
Asset turnover	0.37	0.37	0.39	0.41	0.42	0.41	0.41	0.39	0.37	0.38	0.35	0.34	0.33	0.29	0.29
Current ratio	0.56	0.65	0.74	0.66	0.61	0.81	0.81	0.73	0.14	0.24	1.40	0.44	1.35	6.90	6.96
Debt to equity	76.4%	78.6%	80.0%	82.5%	85.0%	79.6%	61.6%	60.0%	33.6%	18.9%	16.2%	20.5%	16.1%	15.9%	16.3%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	4.3x	4.6x	4.6x	4.8x	4.9x	5.0x	5.9x	7.6x	9.7x	17.2x	24.6x	n/m	33.1x	n/m	—
Effective tax rate	39.0%	38.4%	39.7%	38.0%	38.5%	7.5%	22.9%	26.0%	25.8%	25.2%	25.9%	—	26.2%	—	—
SG&A as % of revenue	13.2%	12.1%	12.3%	11.3%	11.4%	10.8%	9.5%	8.2%	7.7%	5.1%	7.0%	8.1%	8.0%	9.6%	9.7%
Capital spending as % of revenue	14.3%	14.4%	13.2%	13.9%	14.1%	15.5%	12.4%	13.1%	14.9%	11.5%	13.2%	18.0%	19.0%	17.4%	16.1%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	177.6%	150.3%	168.7%	125.1%	128.4%	66.8%	165.2%	124.6%	116.0%	106.1%	92.6%	—	77.1%	—	—
Dividends ÷ net income	135.5%	137.4%	144.3%	125.7%	119.8%	60.4%	76.6%	87.6%	101.1%	27.1%	0.0%	—	0.0%	—	—
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	76.3%	91.4%	85.6%	100.4%	93.3%	90.3%	46.3%	70.3%	87.1%	25.5%	0.0%	149.2%	0.0%	0.0%	—

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Qwest Corp: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q2Jun 2024	2024 Q3Sept 2024	2024 Q4Dec 2024	2025 Q1Mar 2025	2025 Q2Jun 2025	2025 Q3Sept 2025	2025 Q4Dec 2025	2026 Q1Mar 2026
Gross margin	73.1%	71.5%	72.7%	71.0%	69.9%	67.4%	69.5%	72.0%
Operating margin	38.2%	36.5%	38.7%	31.8%	31.3%	20.9%	−174.0%	4.5%
Net margin	27.2%	26.8%	28.7%	23.2%	23.0%	15.2%	−178.1%	−21.5%
Free-cash-flow margin	20.2%	29.1%	20.3%	20.5%	22.9%	21.7%	13.8%	14.2%
Current ratio	0.83	0.96	1.35	1.74	5.18	6.26	6.90	6.96
Debt to equity	16.9%	16.3%	13.8%	13.5%	13.2%	13.0%	15.5%	15.8%
SG&A as % of revenue	8.5%	8.1%	5.9%	8.5%	8.0%	13.4%	8.6%	8.8%

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

4 of 5 checks passed · March 31, 2026

What it owns · $15.7bn

Short-term assets $4.5bnLonger-term assets $11.3bn

What it owes, and who funded it · $11.3bn

Short-term liabilities $640mShareholders' equity $10.7bn

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $4.5bn of assets due within a year against $640m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
More cash than debt $56m of cash against $1.7bn of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 16% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 19% to 16% over five years.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $1.6bn of operating cash flow against $1.7bn of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.

From Qwest Corp'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

82 /100

Strong moat

How hard Qwest'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

Cash operating profit has been a median 23.0% of total assets over 10 years.
Pricing power 19 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 72.1%, moving by 2.8 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
Durability 10 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 34.8%; its worst year was -29.5%.
Cash conversion 20 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 24.2% 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 (86 before it).

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 Qwest Corp's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved November 1, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Qwest Corp.