How Does AT&T's Debt Look Like?

Over the past three months, shares of AT&T Inc. T moved lower by 1.53%. Before having a look at the importance of debt, let's look at how much debt AT&T has.

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AT&T's Debt

According to the AT&T’s most recent financial statement as reported on May 6, 2020, total debt is at $164.27 billion, with $147.20 billion in long-term debt and $17.07 billion in current debt. Adjusting for $9.96 billion in cash-equivalents, the company has a net debt of $154.31 billion.

To understand the degree of financial leverage a company has, investors look at the debt ratio. Considering AT&T’s $545.35 billion in total assets, the debt-ratio is at 0.3. Generally speaking, a debt-ratio more than 1 means that a large portion of debt is funded by assets. As the debt-ratio increases, so the does the risk of defaulting on loans, if interest rates were to increase. Different industries have different thresholds of tolerance for debt-ratios. A debt ratio of 25% might be higher for one industry, whereas average for another.

Importance of Debt

Debt is an important factor in the capital structure of a company, and can help it attain growth. Debt usually has a relatively lower financing cost than equity, which makes it an attractive option for executives.

Interest-payment obligations can impact the cash-flow of the company. Equity owners can keep excess profit, generated from the debt capital, when companies use the debt capital for its business operations.