how heavy is the debt load? · Risk & quality — durability and the shape of the bet
(Debt − cash) ÷ EBITDA — roughly how many years of operating cash flow it would take to pay off the debt. Zero or negative means net cash (rock-solid); above ~4–5× means heavily leveraged and fragile if business slows.
Leverage amplifies everything — wonderful in good times, dangerous in bad. It’s a core input to the Quality score.
net debt / EBITDA = (total debt − cash) ÷ EBITDA