Intrinsic Meaning

These numbers tell you something without looking at any comparisons or trends. Want an early test for determining whether a ratio is good, bad, or ugly? hink of the company’s ratio as it would apply to your personal finances.

A household with 3 times as much debt as equity is in dire straits, as is a household that turns over inventory (say, groceries) only once a year, as is a household that achieves only a 2 percent return on its investments, or a household that’s owed a third of its annual income. You can’t apply this test to all ratios, but where common sense tells you something, use it!