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Edward Altman

The Z-Score · Journal of Finance, 1968

Two zone boundaries. Both can be counted across the US market.

Counted 11 Sep 2026. Prices of 10 Sep 2026. Numbers are Altman's unless marked Ours.

  1. Safe zone> 2.99A quarter to a half of the 2,861 US-listed companies with a Z-score fall in it.

    Scores above 2.99 sit in the zone commonly quoted as safe for his 1968 model, fitted on publicly traded manufacturers.

    2.99 sits between the 50th percentile, 2.32, and the 75th, 4.85.

    Who is counted

    Companies with filed statements, one each; exact zeros left out as missing data; banks, capital markets firms, equity REITs, insurers, mortgage REITs and specialty finance firms left out (857); extremes capped at the 1st and 99th percentiles.

    What we changed

    Same five ratios and weights, with one substitution a reader can check: operating income stands in for earnings before interest and taxes. The cohort covers every sector the product scores, not only manufacturers.

    Z-score benchmarks ›
  2. Distress zone< 1.81A quarter to a half of the 2,861 US-listed companies with a Z-score fall in it.

    Scores below 1.81 sit in the zone commonly quoted as distressed, with a grey zone between the two lines.

    1.81 sits between the 25th percentile, 0.47, and the 50th, 2.32.

    Who is counted

    Companies with filed statements, one each; exact zeros left out as missing data; banks, capital markets firms, equity REITs, insurers, mortgage REITs and specialty finance firms left out (857); extremes capped at the 1st and 99th percentiles.

    What we changed

    Same five ratios and weights, with operating income standing in for earnings before interest and taxes. The cohort covers every sector the product scores, not only manufacturers.

    Z-score benchmarks ›

Check one stock

Piotroski, Altman, Beneish

Three forensic scores

  • Piotroski F-Score≥ 8ours: our number or our measure
  • Altman Z-Score> 2.99
  • Beneish M-Score≤ -1.78ours: our number or our measure
What we changed

Meeting all three says only that no model flags it; the combination is ours.

Each number of ours
  • Piotroski F-Score: His high group is 8 and 9, scored within the cheapest book-to-market fifth.
  • Altman Z-Score: Operating income stands in for his EBIT.
  • Beneish M-Score: His -1.78, on our M-score: absent inputs count as zero, two accrual terms are left out.

Not run: Piotroski's high book-to-market fifth; Altman's manufacturers-only sample.

Run
How Apple measures

Apple Inc. · AAPL · NASDAQ

  • Three forensic scores. Meets. 3 meet, 0 do not, 0 not measured.Not run: Piotroski's high book-to-market fifth and 1 more

Latest annual filing: fiscal 2025. Prices of 10 Sep 2026. Computed 11 Sep 2026.

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Research tool, not investment advice. Meeting a test is not a reason to buy.

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