Xcel Energy key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, Xcel Energy had return on equity of 9.4%, an operating margin of 17.6%, debt equal to 143.5% of equity and a current ratio of 0.71. 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 | LTMSept 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 66.5% | 67.1% | 66.6% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | 15.2% | 15.7% | 16.7% | 18.0% | 16.9% | 16.7% | 18.1% | 20.2% | 19.5% | 17.0% | 18.2% | 18.4% | 16.4% | 15.9% | 17.5% | 17.8% | 17.6% | 21.7% |
| Net margin | 7.1% | 7.3% | 7.9% | 8.9% | 8.7% | 8.7% | 8.9% | 10.1% | 10.1% | 10.9% | 11.9% | 12.8% | 11.9% | 11.3% | 12.5% | 14.4% | 13.8% | 17.9% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 19.8% | 11.3% | 22.6% | 19.8% | −7.4% | −4.6% | −5.9% | −1.3% | −1.0% | −7.2% | −8.3% | −21.9% | −15.3% | −4.6% | −3.7% | −20.3% | −46.5% | −51.2% |
| Return on equity | 9.3% | 9.8% | 10.2% | 10.4% | 10.3% | 10.3% | 9.5% | 10.4% | 10.2% | 10.7% | 10.8% | 10.6% | 10.6% | 10.8% | 10.3% | 10.4% | 9.4% | 10.9% |
| Return on assets | 2.7% | 2.9% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.6% | 2.8% | 2.7% | 2.8% | 2.8% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 2.7% | 3.1% |
| Asset turnover | 0.38 | 0.39 | 0.37 | 0.33 | 0.34 | 0.33 | 0.29 | 0.28 | 0.27 | 0.26 | 0.24 | 0.22 | 0.24 | 0.26 | 0.23 | 0.20 | 0.19 | 0.17 |
| Current ratio | 0.96 | 1.08 | 0.83 | 0.89 | 0.88 | 0.83 | 0.68 | 0.88 | 0.73 | 0.69 | 0.68 | 0.77 | 0.84 | 0.85 | 0.72 | 0.67 | 0.71 | 0.69 |
| Debt to equity | 122.1% | 121.0% | 119.4% | 124.0% | 124.9% | 125.1% | 131.1% | 134.7% | 137.9% | 141.1% | 141.3% | 141.7% | 149.8% | 148.6% | 149.0% | 149.1% | 143.5% | 159.2% |
| Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest) | 2.6x | 2.8x | 3.0x | 3.0x | 3.2x | 3.4x | 3.4x | 3.5x | 3.4x | 2.8x | 2.7x | 2.5x | 2.6x | 2.5x | 2.4x | 1.9x | 1.8x | 1.9x |
| Effective tax rate | 35.1% | 36.7% | 35.8% | 33.2% | 33.8% | 33.9% | 35.6% | 34.1% | 32.1% | 12.6% | 8.5% | −0.4% | −4.6% | −8.4% | −9.0% | −26.2% | −13.8% | −6.8% |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 0.0% | 7.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 31.1% | 27.4% | 33.4% | 28.8% | 28.4% | 34.3% | 36.6% | 46.6% | 31.6% | 30.3% | 41.2% | 54.8% | 74.4% | 85.3% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | 280.9% | 153.7% | 286.0% | 221.5% | −85.6% | −52.9% | −65.5% | −12.7% | −10.3% | −66.2% | −70.1% | −171.1% | −128.7% | −40.7% | −29.8% | −140.7% | −338.2% | −285.4% |
| Dividends ÷ net income | 60.9% | 57.2% | 56.4% | 53.8% | 54.2% | 55.0% | 61.7% | 60.6% | 62.8% | 57.9% | 57.7% | 58.1% | 58.5% | 58.3% | 61.7% | 60.7% | 63.5% | 52.4% |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | 21.7% | 37.2% | 19.7% | 25.2% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Quarter | 2024 Q4Dec 2024 | 2025 Q1Mar 2025 | 2025 Q2Jun 2025 | 2025 Q3Sept 2025 | 2025 Q4Dec 2025 | 2026 Q1Mar 2026 | 2026 Q2Jun 2026 | 2026 Q3Sept 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 11.1% | 17.3% | 17.6% | 19.1% | 16.3% | 18.8% | 22.6% | 28.5% |
| Net margin | 14.9% | 12.4% | 13.5% | 13.4% | 15.9% | 13.8% | 18.8% | 23.0% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | −49.8% | −24.6% | −40.9% | −33.0% | −90.7% | −33.0% | −59.2% | −29.1% |
| Current ratio | 0.67 | 0.80 | 0.96 | 0.79 | 0.71 | 0.77 | 0.70 | 0.69 |
| Debt to equity | 143.5% | 157.6% | 153.5% | 157.5% | 143.5% | 155.6% | 164.0% | 159.2% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $6.7bn of assets due within a year against $9.7bn 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 $2.5bn of cash against $40.6bn of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 159% of equity.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 142% to 159% over five years.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $5.1bn of operating cash flow against $40.6bn of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $3.2bn against $1.7bn of interest.
Moat
Weak moat
How hard Xcel 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 2 / 20
Net income has been a median 2.7% of total assets over 10 years.
- Durability 15 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 17.6%; its worst year was 16.4%.
- Cash conversion 0 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 0 of 10 years, at a median -11.3% of revenue.
- Discipline 12 / 20
The diluted share count rose 15.6% 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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