Nlight, Inc. key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Nlight, Inc. had return on equity of -10.6%, an operating margin of -10.2%, debt equal to 17.6% of equity and a current ratio of 3.79. 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.

Nlight, Inc.: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2016Dec 2016	2017Dec 2017	2018Dec 2018	2019Dec 2019	2020Dec 2020	2021Dec 2021	2022Dec 2022	2023Dec 2023	2024Dec 2024	2025Dec 2025	LTMJun 2026
Gross margin	22.9%	31.9%	35.0%	29.6%	26.6%	28.6%	21.0%	22.0%	16.6%	29.8%	31.5%
Operating margin	−9.2%	7.1%	8.9%	−5.6%	−9.4%	−11.2%	−22.8%	−22.3%	−33.1%	−10.2%	−5.5%
Net margin	−14.0%	1.3%	7.3%	−7.3%	−9.4%	−11.0%	−22.5%	−19.9%	−30.6%	−9.0%	−4.0%
Free-cash-flow margin	1.9%	−1.5%	−3.8%	−9.4%	−4.7%	−9.9%	−14.8%	2.3%	−5.2%	4.7%	13.5%
Return on equity	−47.8%	4.0%	10.0%	−5.9%	−9.6%	−11.4%	−19.1%	−15.9%	−25.8%	−10.6%	−3.7%
Return on assets	—	1.7%	7.7%	−5.2%	−7.8%	−9.0%	−15.5%	−13.1%	−21.1%	−8.0%	−3.0%
Asset turnover	—	1.26	1.06	0.71	0.83	0.82	0.69	0.66	0.69	0.89	0.75
Current ratio	—	2.93	9.27	7.93	4.85	6.06	6.69	6.73	5.67	3.79	8.17
Debt to equity	0.0%	28.5%	0.1%	0.0%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	17.6%	—
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m
Effective tax rate	—	72.6%	20.5%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
R&D as % of revenue	15.0%	10.9%	11.0%	15.9%	18.5%	20.3%	22.2%	22.0%	22.7%	18.4%	16.3%
SG&A as % of revenue	17.0%	14.0%	15.1%	19.3%	17.6%	19.5%	19.9%	21.9%	24.8%	20.7%	19.9%
Capital spending as % of revenue	4.0%	4.0%	5.5%	7.0%	10.5%	7.2%	8.8%	2.5%	4.0%	3.5%	3.6%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	—	−112.8%	−51.7%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Nlight, Inc.: financial ratios, quarterly
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
Gross margin	22.4%	2.4%	26.7%	29.9%	31.1%	30.7%	33.1%	31.1%
Operating margin	−21.0%	−55.8%	−18.6%	−6.9%	−10.9%	−6.7%	−0.9%	−4.3%
Net margin	−18.4%	−52.7%	−15.7%	−5.8%	−10.3%	−6.0%	0.8%	−1.6%
Free-cash-flow margin	−12.9%	−13.7%	−4.5%	−6.1%	3.7%	19.6%	9.4%	19.2%
Current ratio	5.83	5.67	5.81	5.63	5.63	3.79	7.07	8.17
R&D as % of revenue	20.2%	24.0%	22.0%	17.8%	17.3%	17.3%	14.8%	15.9%
SG&A as % of revenue	23.2%	25.1%	23.3%	18.9%	22.2%	19.3%	18.8%	19.6%

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 · June 30, 2026

What it owns · $518m

Short-term assets $447mLonger-term assets $70m

What it owes, and who funded it · $518m

Short-term liabilities $55mLonger-term liabilities $23mShareholders' equity $440m

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $447m of assets due within a year against $55m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $447m short-term assets against $23m 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 −$17m against $1m of interest.

From Nlight, 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

16 /100

Weak moat

How hard Nlight's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 9 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 2 / 20

Cash operating profit has been a median 3.5% of total assets over 8 years.
Pricing power 7 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 26.8%, moving by 5.4 percentage points (standard deviation) across 9 years.
Durability 10 / 20

Operating margin has been a median -12.3%; its worst year was -27.5%.
Cash conversion 2 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 2 of 9 years, at a median -5.8% of revenue.
Discipline 0 / 20

The diluted share count rose 36.5% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 11.8% 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 (21 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 Nlight, 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 Nlight, Inc.