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Aqua MetalsAQMS -4.69%21 Debt-to-EBITDA is -0.04 as of Mar. 2026. GuruFocus rates AQMS with a GF Score™ of 21/100. The stock has 3 warning signs investors should review. Among 169 Waste Management companies, Aqua Metals ranks worse than 591715.38% on this metric.
Debt-to-EBITDA measures a company's ability to pay off its debt.
A high Debt-to-EBITDA ratio generally means that a company may spend more time to paying off its debt. According to Joel Tillinghast's BIG MONEY THINKS SMALL: Biases, Blind Spots, and Smarter Investing, a ratio of Debt-to-EBITDA exceeding four is usually considered scary unless tangible assets cover the debt.
The historical rank and industry rank for Aqua Metals's Debt-to-EBITDA or its related term are showing as below:
AQMS'
s Debt-to-EBITDA Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -0.81 Med: -0.23 Max: -0.03
Current: -0.03
During the past 12 years, the highest Debt-to-EBITDA Ratio of Aqua Metals was -0.03. The lowest was -0.81. And the median was -0.23.
AQMS's Debt-to-EBITDA is ranked worse than 100% of 169
companies
in the Waste Management industry
Industry Median: 3.06
vs AQMS: -0.03
A high Debt-to-EBITDA ratio generally means that a company may spend more time to paying off its debt.
According to Joel Tillinghast's BIG MONEY THINKS SMALL: Biases, Blind Spots, and Smarter Investing, a ratio of Debt-to-EBITDA exceeding four is usually considered scary unless tangible assets cover the debt.
Aqua Metals Debt-to-EBITDA Related Terms
Aqua Metals Debt-to-EBITDA Historical Data
* Premium members only.
The historical data trend for Aqua Metals's Debt-to-EBITDA can be seen below:
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
AQMS vs AWX, OCLN, CDTG: Debt-to-EBITDA Comparison
For the Waste Management subindustry, Aqua Metals's Debt-to-EBITDA, along with its competitors' market caps and Debt-to-EBITDA data, can be viewed below:
* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.
Aqua Metals Debt-to-EBITDA vs Waste Management Industry
For the Waste Management industry and Industrials sector, Aqua Metals's Debt-to-EBITDA distribution charts can be found below:
* The bar in red indicates where Aqua Metals's Debt-to-EBITDA falls into.
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
In the calculation of annual Debt-to-EBITDA, the EBITDA of the last fiscal year is used. In calculating the annualized quarterly data,
the EBITDA data used here is four times the quarterly (Mar. 2026) EBITDA data.
Aqua Metals (AQMS) has a Debt-to-EBITDA of -0.04 as of Mar. 2026. Debt-to-EBITDA ratio represents the ratio of total debt to total earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. View historical data on Aqua Metals. According to the industry distribution chart, Aqua Metals ranks #999999 out of 169 companies in the Waste Management industry.
Is Aqua Metals' Debt-to-EBITDA too high?
Aqua Metals' current Debt-to-EBITDA is -0.04. Based on the distribution chart, Aqua Metals ranks #999999 out of 169 companies in the Waste Management industry, which is in the bottom quartile relative to peers. Overall, Aqua Metals has a GF Score™ of 21/100, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Aqua Metals' Debt-to-EBITDA compare to AWX and OCLN?
According to the Waste Management industry distribution chart, Aqua Metals ranks #999999 out of 169 companies for Debt-to-EBITDA. This places Aqua Metals in the lower half of its industry. The industry median Debt-to-EBITDA is 3.06. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Debt-to-EBITDA for a Waste Management company?
The median Debt-to-EBITDA among Waste Management companies is 3.06, based on 169 companies in the industry. Companies in the top quartile (top 25%) have a Debt-to-EBITDA significantly above this median, while those in the bottom quartile fall well below. However, Debt-to-EBITDA should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Debt-to-EBITDA mean?
A high Debt-to-EBITDA can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. Debt-to-EBITDA ratio represents the ratio of total debt to total earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. View historical data on Aqua Metals. For the Waste Management industry, the median Debt-to-EBITDA is 3.06 — values significantly above this may indicate overvaluation, while values below may suggest a bargain or underlying issues. Aqua Metals's current Debt-to-EBITDA is -0.04. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Aqua Metals stock overvalued right now?
Aqua Metals (AQMS) has a current Debt-to-EBITDA of -0.04. The current Debt-to-EBITDA is -0.04. Aqua Metals' overall GF Score™ is 21/100 with 3 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Debt-to-EBITDA calculated?
Debt-to-EBITDA is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Aqua Metals (AQMS), the current Debt-to-EBITDA is -0.04 as of Mar. 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.
Aqua Metals Inc is developing and seeking to commercialize proprietary recycling and refining technologies for the recovery of critical minerals and metals. Its patented and patent-pending AquaRefining process is an electro-hydrometallurgical method designed to recover high-purity materials from battery and other metal-bearing feedstocks using a closed-loop system powered by electricity. Its idea is to reduce CAPEX and OPEX costs, reduce emissions, hazardous waste, and reliance on conventional smelting and chemical-intensive refining processes. It has one operating segment: sustainable metals recycling. It focused on the development and commercialization of AquaRefining technology for the clean and efficient recovery of valuable metals from lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries.
21GF Score
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