Culp Inc key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2026, Culp Inc had return on equity of -19.3%, an operating margin of -3.5%, debt equal to 39.7% of equity and a current ratio of 1.79. 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.

Culp Inc: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2010May 2010	2011May 2011	2012Apr 2012	2013Apr 2013	2014Apr 2014	2015May 2015	2016May 2016	2017Apr 2017	2018Apr 2018	2019Apr 2019	2020May 2020	2021May 2021	2022May 2022	2023Apr 2023	2024Apr 2024	2025Apr 2025	2026May 2026	LTMAug 2026
Gross margin	18.8%	17.0%	15.6%	18.4%	17.0%	17.9%	20.8%	22.4%	20.0%	16.3%	15.8%	16.6%	12.2%	4.6%	12.4%	11.8%	12.4%	16.1%
Operating margin	7.9%	7.3%	5.8%	7.8%	7.1%	7.3%	9.1%	9.7%	8.5%	4.7%	−3.0%	4.0%	0.2%	−12.1%	−5.0%	−8.6%	−3.5%	−1.0%
Net margin	6.4%	7.5%	5.2%	6.8%	6.1%	4.9%	5.4%	7.2%	6.4%	2.0%	−11.2%	1.1%	−1.1%	−13.4%	−6.1%	−9.0%	−5.0%	−1.9%
Free-cash-flow margin	6.9%	3.9%	2.4%	4.7%	5.2%	5.0%	5.4%	7.2%	6.0%	3.8%	0.2%	4.9%	−7.8%	2.4%	−5.3%	−9.7%	−4.9%	−0.6%
Return on equity	20.9%	22.5%	15.7%	19.8%	16.8%	13.0%	13.6%	16.1%	13.4%	3.5%	−19.8%	2.5%	−2.6%	−30.2%	−16.7%	−28.6%	−19.3%	−7.8%
Return on assets	—	12.4%	9.7%	12.7%	11.4%	9.1%	9.8%	11.7%	9.9%	2.6%	−13.2%	1.5%	−1.6%	−19.1%	−9.7%	−15.0%	−8.7%	−3.6%
Asset turnover	—	1.67	1.85	1.86	1.88	1.87	1.81	1.63	1.53	1.28	1.18	1.40	1.51	1.42	1.59	1.67	1.73	1.88
Current ratio	—	2.31	2.19	2.69	2.90	2.64	3.16	2.22	3.25	3.50	3.78	2.34	3.29	2.17	2.12	1.78	1.79	1.81
Debt to equity	0.0%	14.4%	11.2%	7.5%	4.5%	1.8%	0.0%	—	—	—	28.8%	—	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	22.1%	39.7%	37.5%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	12.4x	17.9x	18.9x	33.4x	47.4x	—	—	—	—	—	n/m	—	39.9x	—	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m
Effective tax rate	7.9%	−7.3%	6.4%	9.7%	8.4%	34.3%	39.3%	24.7%	21.4%	51.4%	—	70.7%	—	—	—	—	—	—
SG&A as % of revenue	11.0%	9.7%	9.8%	10.6%	10.0%	10.6%	11.8%	12.6%	11.5%	11.8%	13.4%	12.6%	12.0%	16.2%	17.1%	16.7%	17.0%	16.6%
Capital spending as % of revenue	3.6%	2.9%	2.3%	1.6%	1.8%	3.4%	3.7%	3.8%	2.5%	1.2%	1.8%	2.2%	1.9%	0.9%	1.6%	1.4%	0.3%	0.4%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	107.3%	52.4%	46.0%	69.2%	85.8%	103.8%	99.8%	99.4%	93.3%	187.0%	—	460.3%	—	—	—	—	—	—
Dividends ÷ net income	—	—	—	41.5%	12.6%	50.3%	48.1%	28.1%	32.8%	83.4%	—	164.4%	—	—	—	—	—	—
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	—	—	88.1%	99.5%	14.7%	53.2%	62.3%	28.3%	35.1%	75.9%	>999%	35.7%	—	—	—	—	—	—

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Culp Inc: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2025 Q2Oct 2024	2025 Q3Jan 2025	2025 Q4Apr 2025	2026 Q1Aug 2025	2026 Q2Nov 2025	2026 Q3Feb 2026	2026 Q4May 2026	2027 Q1Aug 2026
Gross margin	10.8%	12.1%	15.7%	14.3%	10.9%	11.1%	13.2%	28.5%
Operating margin	−9.7%	−7.4%	−4.6%	3.2%	−6.5%	−7.8%	−3.1%	12.4%
Net margin	−10.1%	−7.9%	−4.2%	−0.5%	−8.1%	−7.2%	−4.3%	11.1%
Free-cash-flow margin	−6.3%	−14.6%	−17.9%	−1.7%	−1.0%	−2.8%	−14.1%	14.4%
Current ratio	1.79	1.68	1.78	1.86	1.76	1.71	1.79	1.81
SG&A as % of revenue	16.8%	16.4%	17.4%	18.0%	16.4%	17.6%	16.2%	16.1%

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

2 of 3 checks passed · August 2, 2026

What it owns · $108m

Short-term assets $79mLonger-term assets $30m

What it owes, and who funded it · $108m

Short-term liabilities $43mLonger-term liabilities $11mShareholders' equity $54m

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $79m of assets due within a year against $43m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $79m short-term assets against $11m of longer-dated liabilities.
More cash than debt Cash or debt not separately reported. Not assessable.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Equity or debt not reported. Not assessable.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Five-year comparison not available. Not assessable.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt Cash flow or debt not reported. Not assessable.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of −$2m against $731,000 of interest.

From Culp Inc'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

32 /100

Weak moat

How hard Culp'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 0 / 20

Net income has been a median -4.9% of total assets over 10 years.
Pricing power 6 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 15.7%, moving by 4.3 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
Durability 10 / 20

Operating margin has been a median -1.9%; its worst year was -11.7%.
Cash conversion 5 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 5 of 10 years, at a median 0.4% of revenue.
Discipline 16 / 20

The diluted share count rose 2.7% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.3% 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 (37 before it).

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

Compare with peers

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Figures from Culp Inc's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 29, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Culp Inc.