Interest Coverage Ratio

Operating income divided by interest expense — how many times over a company can pay the interest on its debt.

Interest Coverage Ratio — Operating income divided by interest expense — how many times over a company can pay the interest on its debt.

Key facts

Category
Financial Health
Definition
Operating income divided by interest expense — how many times over a company can pay the interest on its debt.
Formula
Interest Coverage = EBIT / Interest Expense
Live example
/research/stock/T
Last updated
2026-06-17

Formula

Interest Coverage = EBIT / Interest Expense

Interpretive bands

< 1.5×
Stressed. Operating earnings barely cover interest. Watch for credit-rating downgrade.
1.5 – 4×
Adequate but not strong. Sensitive to earnings drops.
> 5×
Comfortable. Material headroom against earnings shocks.

How IndexAlpha uses Interest Coverage Ratio

Critical for highly-leveraged sectors (utilities, REITs, telcos). On the Financial Health card with declining-trend alerts.

See it live

The Interest Coverage Ratio metric shows up on every IndexAlpha research page. See it now on T — or research any stock to view its Interest Coverage Ratio.

Related terms

Common questions

What is Interest Coverage Ratio?

Operating income divided by interest expense — how many times over a company can pay the interest on its debt.

How is Interest Coverage Ratio calculated?

Interest Coverage = EBIT / Interest Expense

How does IndexAlpha use Interest Coverage Ratio?

Critical for highly-leveraged sectors (utilities, REITs, telcos). On the Financial Health card with declining-trend alerts.

Sources