Warner Music Group Corp. key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Warner Music Group Corp. had return on equity of 62.7%, an operating margin of 10.3%, debt equal to 674.7% of equity and a current ratio of 0.66. 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.

Warner Music Group Corp.: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2010Sept 2010	2012Sept 2012	2013Sept 2013	2014Sept 2014	2015Sept 2015	2016Sept 2016	2017Sept 2017	2018Sept 2018	2019Sept 2019	2020Sept 2020	2021Sept 2021	2022Sept 2022	2023Sept 2023	2024Sept 2024	2025Sept 2025	LTMJun 2026
Gross margin	47.0%	47.7%	48.0%	48.1%	49.1%	47.4%	46.0%	45.8%	46.3%	47.7%	48.3%	48.0%	47.4%	47.8%	45.8%	45.8%
Operating margin	3.0%	3.9%	2.6%	0.6%	4.3%	6.6%	6.2%	5.4%	8.0%	−5.1%	11.5%	12.1%	13.1%	12.8%	10.3%	13.7%
Net margin	−4.8%	−4.0%	−6.9%	−10.2%	−3.1%	0.8%	4.0%	7.7%	5.7%	−10.6%	5.7%	9.3%	7.1%	6.8%	5.4%	9.2%
Free-cash-flow margin	3.3%	6.4%	4.4%	1.8%	5.4%	9.2%	13.7%	8.8%	6.6%	8.5%	10.3%	10.3%	9.3%	9.9%	8.0%	11.4%
Return on equity	—	−33.8%	−24.0%	−56.2%	−30.7%	12.0%	58.6%	—	—	—	—	—	187.4%	105.5%	62.7%	89.5%
Return on assets	−3.8%	−2.5%	−3.4%	−5.0%	−1.6%	0.5%	2.6%	5.4%	4.4%	−7.6%	4.5%	7.3%	5.3%	4.9%	3.8%	6.5%
Asset turnover	0.78	0.61	0.50	0.50	0.51	0.59	0.65	0.71	0.77	0.72	0.78	0.79	0.74	0.73	0.71	0.71
Current ratio	0.66	0.58	0.45	0.41	0.45	0.49	0.61	0.58	0.60	0.62	0.60	0.64	0.68	0.68	0.66	0.73
Debt to equity	—	238.0%	394.9%	816.7%	>999%	>999%	959.4%	—	—	—	>999%	>999%	>999%	781.5%	674.7%	551.5%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	0.5x	0.5x	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5.1x	5.7x	5.0x	4.5x	3.9x	5.5x
Effective tax rate	—	—	—	—	—	26.8%	—	29.4%	3.4%	—	32.7%	25.0%	27.9%	20.5%	24.5%	23.8%
SG&A as % of revenue	36.6%	36.8%	38.2%	38.7%	36.2%	33.3%	34.2%	35.2%	33.7%	48.6%	32.5%	31.5%	30.2%	29.2%	28.2%	25.7%
Capital spending as % of revenue	1.7%	1.2%	1.2%	2.5%	2.1%	1.3%	1.2%	1.8%	2.3%	1.9%	1.8%	2.3%	2.1%	1.8%	2.1%	1.4%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	—	—	—	—	—	>999%	343.4%	114.3%	115.6%	—	179.3%	110.2%	130.2%	146.7%	147.7%	124.4%
Dividends ÷ net income	—	—	—	—	—	—	58.7%	301.3%	36.7%	—	87.2%	57.7%	79.1%	83.0%	104.9%	59.5%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	—	—	—	—	—	—	17.1%	263.5%	31.8%	91.0%	48.6%	52.4%	60.7%	56.6%	74.0%	55.1%

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Warner Music Group Corp.: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q4Sept 2024	2025 Q1Dec 2024	2025 Q2Mar 2025	2025 Q3Jun 2025	2025 Q4Sept 2025	2026 Q1Dec 2025	2026 Q2Mar 2026	2026 Q3Jun 2026
Gross margin	47.6%	46.3%	46.7%	45.9%	44.6%	46.4%	46.3%	45.8%
Operating margin	8.8%	12.8%	11.3%	10.0%	7.7%	15.7%	15.2%	16.4%
Net margin	2.5%	14.2%	2.4%	−0.9%	5.8%	9.6%	10.6%	10.9%
Free-cash-flow margin	16.6%	17.8%	2.2%	0.4%	10.9%	22.8%	5.7%	6.1%
Current ratio	0.68	0.69	0.66	0.66	0.66	0.70	0.73	0.73
Debt to equity	774.9%	725.7%	703.7%	689.5%	628.0%	607.1%	639.4%	551.5%
SG&A as % of revenue	30.4%	28.5%	30.3%	27.9%	26.4%	24.9%	26.6%	24.9%

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 7 checks passed · June 30, 2026

What it owns · $10.7bn

Short-term assets $3.3bnLonger-term assets $7.5bn

What it owes, and who funded it · $10.5bn

Short-term liabilities $4.4bnLonger-term liabilities $5.2bnShareholders' equity $854m

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $3.3bn of assets due within a year against $4.4bn of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $3.3bn short-term assets against $5.2bn of longer-dated liabilities.
More cash than debt $618m of cash against $4.7bn of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 552% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 2514% to 552% over five years.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $939m of operating cash flow against $4.7bn of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $1.0bn against $181m of interest.

From Warner Music Group 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

52 /100

Moderate moat

How hard Warner Music Group'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 12 / 20

Cash operating profit has been a median 9.8% of total assets over 10 years.
Pricing power 16 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 46.8%, moving by 0.8 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
Durability 2 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 11.0%; its worst year was -6.5%.
Cash conversion 15 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 10.1% 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 (57 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 Warner Music Group Corp.'s SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 26, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Warner Music Group Corp.