Daktronics Inc key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2026, Daktronics Inc had return on equity of 15.8%, an operating margin of 7.3%, debt equal to 3.6% of equity and a current ratio of 2.31. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2010May 2010 | 2011Apr 2011 | 2012Apr 2012 | 2013Apr 2013 | 2014Apr 2014 | 2015May 2015 | 2016Apr 2016 | 2017Apr 2017 | 2018Apr 2018 | 2019Apr 2019 | 2020May 2020 | 2021May 2021 | 2022Apr 2022 | 2023Apr 2023 | 2024Apr 2024 | 2025Apr 2025 | 2026May 2026 | LTMAug 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 24.0% | 25.2% | 23.2% | 25.8% | 25.7% | 23.5% | 21.2% | 23.9% | 23.9% | 22.9% | 22.8% | 25.0% | 19.1% | 20.1% | 27.2% | 25.8% | 27.3% | 27.6% |
| Operating margin | −1.7% | 4.4% | 2.1% | 5.9% | 6.6% | 5.1% | 0.4% | 2.6% | 2.0% | −0.8% | −0.0% | 3.5% | 0.7% | 2.8% | 10.6% | 4.4% | 7.3% | 7.3% |
| Net margin | −1.8% | 3.2% | 1.7% | 4.4% | 4.0% | 3.4% | 0.4% | 1.8% | 0.9% | −0.2% | 0.1% | 2.3% | 0.1% | 0.9% | 4.2% | −1.3% | 5.4% | 5.7% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 7.0% | 7.2% | 0.7% | 7.9% | 4.1% | 5.1% | −0.7% | 5.3% | 2.0% | 2.2% | −1.2% | 12.1% | −7.8% | −1.4% | 5.7% | 10.3% | 4.1% | 4.7% |
| Return on equity | −3.4% | 6.9% | 4.3% | 12.0% | 11.3% | 10.1% | 1.0% | 5.2% | 2.8% | −0.5% | 0.3% | 5.9% | 0.3% | 3.5% | 15.7% | −4.0% | 15.8% | 15.6% |
| Return on assets | — | 4.3% | 2.6% | 7.2% | 6.6% | 5.7% | 0.6% | 2.9% | 1.6% | −0.3% | 0.1% | 2.9% | 0.1% | 1.5% | 7.0% | −2.0% | 8.6% | 8.3% |
| Asset turnover | — | 1.35 | 1.52 | 1.63 | 1.63 | 1.67 | 1.56 | 1.66 | 1.71 | 1.61 | 1.69 | 1.29 | 1.50 | 1.66 | 1.64 | 1.47 | 1.59 | 1.47 |
| Current ratio | — | 2.17 | 2.10 | 2.09 | 2.05 | 2.04 | 2.02 | 1.97 | 2.01 | 1.89 | 1.73 | 1.81 | 1.49 | 1.63 | 2.09 | 2.22 | 2.31 | 2.17 |
| Debt to equity | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8.8% | 22.9% | 4.6% | 3.6% | 3.3% |
| Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest) | n/m | 106.1x | 30.7x | 86.2x | 143.4x | 140.3x | 10.9x | 67.0x | 57.4x | n/m | n/m | 58.0x | 82.6x | 19.0x | 25.6x | 11.5x | 41.6x | — |
| Effective tax rate | — | 35.7% | 26.7% | 26.4% | 40.4% | 34.1% | 34.1% | 33.7% | 55.2% | — | — | 22.3% | 46.6% | 48.7% | 35.9% | — | 22.2% | 21.8% |
| R&D as % of revenue | 5.6% | 4.3% | 4.8% | 4.5% | 4.2% | 4.0% | 4.7% | 5.0% | 5.8% | 6.2% | 6.2% | 5.6% | 4.7% | 4.0% | 4.4% | 5.1% | 5.2% | 5.3% |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 4.1% | 2.1% | 3.4% | 1.9% | 2.4% | 3.5% | 3.0% | 1.4% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 1.6% | 3.3% | 3.4% | 2.1% | 2.6% | 1.8% | 1.7% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | — | 224.4% | 41.4% | 180.3% | 102.1% | 151.7% | −183.1% | 298.8% | 220.0% | — | <−999% | 533.8% | <−999% | −152.3% | 133.6% | — | 75.6% | 82.3% |
| Dividends ÷ net income | — | 174.1% | 305.7% | 135.5% | 75.2% | 83.2% | 851.8% | 132.0% | 223.4% | — | >999% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | 14.0% | 77.6% | 738.5% | 75.1% | 73.6% | 54.9% | — | 50.1% | 101.6% | 102.2% | — | 0.0% | — | — | 0.0% | 37.7% | 74.5% | 48.6% |
| Quarter | 2025 Q2Oct 2024 | 2025 Q3Jan 2025 | 2025 Q4Apr 2025 | 2026 Q1Aug 2025 | 2026 Q2Nov 2025 | 2026 Q3Jan 2026 | 2026 Q4May 2026 | 2027 Q1Aug 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 26.8% | 24.6% | 25.0% | 29.7% | 27.0% | 24.0% | 28.0% | 30.5% |
| Operating margin | 7.6% | −2.4% | −1.0% | 10.6% | 9.4% | 1.1% | 6.8% | 10.6% |
| Net margin | 10.3% | −11.5% | −5.5% | 7.5% | 7.6% | 1.7% | 4.0% | 8.3% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 18.2% | 5.2% | 10.5% | 10.0% | 6.1% | 4.4% | −4.6% | 11.6% |
| Current ratio | 2.35 | 2.43 | 2.22 | 2.07 | 2.23 | 2.22 | 2.31 | 2.17 |
| Debt to equity | 25.1% | 15.6% | 4.4% | 4.1% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.6% | 3.3% |
| R&D as % of revenue | 4.7% | 6.3% | 5.8% | 4.9% | 4.6% | 5.8% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $501m of assets due within a year against $231m 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 $155m of cash against $11m of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 3% of equity.
- 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 $55m of operating cash flow against $11m of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over No material interest expense reported.
Moat
Weak moat
How hard Daktronics'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 1.8% of total assets over 10 years.
- Pricing power 9 / 20
Gross margin has been a median 24.2%, moving by 2.7 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
- Durability 0 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 3.0%; its worst year was -1.1%.
- Cash conversion 11 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 9 of 10 years, at a median 4.3% of revenue.
- Discipline 14 / 20
The diluted share count rose 8.4% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.4% 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 (34 before it).
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