Duke Energy key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, Duke Energy had return on equity of 9.7%, an operating margin of 26.8%, debt equal to 173.3% of equity and a current ratio of 0.55. 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 | LTMJun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 70.9% | 73.1% | 72.1% | 72.8% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | 17.7% | 17.2% | 19.1% | 14.8% | 21.3% | 21.5% | 22.7% | 22.9% | 23.9% | 19.1% | 22.8% | 19.6% | 22.3% | 20.9% | 24.3% | 26.1% | 26.8% | 27.8% |
| Net margin | 8.4% | 9.2% | 11.7% | 9.0% | 11.7% | 8.4% | 12.6% | 9.5% | 13.0% | 10.9% | 14.9% | 5.9% | 15.9% | 8.9% | 9.8% | 14.9% | 15.4% | 15.8% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | −6.5% | −2.0% | −4.8% | −1.3% | 3.8% | 5.3% | −0.3% | −4.6% | −6.1% | −9.0% | −11.6% | −4.5% | −5.8% | −18.9% | −9.4% | 0.2% | −5.3% | −12.9% |
| Return on equity | 4.9% | 6.0% | 7.5% | 5.6% | 6.5% | 4.6% | 7.0% | 5.3% | 7.4% | 6.2% | 8.3% | 2.9% | 8.0% | 5.2% | 5.8% | 9.1% | 9.7% | 9.8% |
| Return on assets | 1.9% | 2.3% | 2.8% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1.6% | 2.3% | 1.7% | 2.3% | 1.9% | 2.5% | 0.9% | 2.4% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 2.5% | 2.6% | 2.6% |
| Asset turnover | 0.22 | 0.25 | 0.24 | 0.22 | 0.20 | 0.19 | 0.19 | 0.18 | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.16 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.17 | 0.16 | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.17 |
| Current ratio | 1.41 | 1.60 | 1.24 | 1.01 | 1.22 | 1.03 | 0.73 | 0.70 | 0.68 | 0.65 | 0.62 | 0.53 | 0.62 | 0.70 | 0.74 | 0.67 | 0.55 | 0.66 |
| Debt to equity | 78.2% | 87.0% | 92.3% | 101.1% | 99.4% | 103.7% | 107.0% | 122.8% | 130.4% | 132.2% | 130.8% | 130.8% | 136.2% | 149.4% | 162.0% | 168.1% | 173.3% | 166.6% |
| Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest) | 3.0x | 2.9x | 3.2x | 2.3x | 3.1x | 3.2x | 3.3x | 2.7x | 2.8x | 2.2x | 2.6x | 2.2x | 2.5x | 2.5x | 2.3x | 2.3x | 2.4x | 2.4x |
| Effective tax rate | 41.4% | 40.3% | 30.5% | 27.9% | 31.8% | 32.6% | 32.1% | 31.0% | 28.0% | 14.6% | 12.7% | −18.4% | 6.7% | 7.4% | 9.2% | 11.4% | 11.2% | 13.3% |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 33.7% | 33.7% | 30.0% | 28.0% | 24.3% | 23.9% | 30.2% | 34.7% | 34.2% | 38.3% | 44.3% | 42.4% | 39.5% | 39.5% | 43.4% | 40.5% | 43.5% | 47.6% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | −77.5% | −22.1% | −40.5% | −14.5% | 32.1% | 63.8% | −2.3% | −48.2% | −46.7% | −82.6% | −77.7% | −76.3% | −36.5% | −213.3% | −96.0% | 1.1% | −34.1% | −81.5% |
| Dividends ÷ net income | 113.7% | −97.3% | 77.9% | 99.1% | 82.1% | 118.6% | 80.0% | 108.4% | 80.1% | 92.7% | 71.2% | 204.2% | 79.7% | 124.7% | 114.2% | 71.0% | 66.4% | 64.5% |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | — | — | — | — | 255.6% | 185.9% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | >999% | — | — |
| Quarter | 2024 Q3Sept 2024 | 2024 Q4Dec 2024 | 2025 Q1Mar 2025 | 2025 Q2Jun 2025 | 2025 Q3Sept 2025 | 2025 Q4Dec 2025 | 2026 Q1Mar 2026 | 2026 Q2Jun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 26.3% | 28.7% | 28.4% | 24.4% | 27.3% | 26.7% | 29.7% | 27.0% |
| Net margin | 15.7% | 16.4% | 16.7% | 13.1% | 16.6% | 14.9% | 16.9% | 14.4% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 6.6% | 3.9% | −11.8% | −5.6% | 2.1% | −6.1% | −28.1% | −18.3% |
| Current ratio | 0.70 | 0.67 | 0.77 | 0.66 | 0.63 | 0.55 | 0.66 | 0.66 |
| Debt to equity | 163.1% | 161.0% | 165.5% | 165.0% | 166.6% | 168.2% | 161.4% | 162.4% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $13.1bn of assets due within a year against $19.9bn 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 $673m of cash against $88.9bn of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 162% of equity.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 123% to 162% over five years.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $11.6bn of operating cash flow against $88.9bn of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $9.2bn against $3.8bn of interest.
Moat
Weak moat
How hard Duke Energy'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 2.1% of total assets over 10 years.
- Durability 17 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 22.6%; its worst year was 19.3%.
- Cash conversion 0 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 0 of 10 years, at a median -7.6% of revenue.
- Discipline 16 / 20
The diluted share count rose 3.1% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.3% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.
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