Going-Concern Radar — Lowest Altman Z″-Scores in the S&P 500

What you’re looking at

Edward Altman, a finance professor, built the first widely used model for spotting companies headed for money trouble. His original 1968 version was fitted to manufacturers. He later published a version for companies that aren’t manufacturers, called Z″ (Z double prime). That is the version Filing.fyi computes, because the S&P 500 is full of software makers, retailers, hospitals and service companies.

This list shows the S&P 500 companies whose most recent Z″ score is below 1.10, the zone where Altman’s model puts a company’s balance sheet and profits closest to those of companies that later failed. The table is sorted from the lowest score up, so the top rows are the furthest into that zone.

The four ratios, in plain words

Z″ adds up four ratios, each measured against the size of the company:

• Working capital ÷ total assets. Working capital is what the company has coming in soon (cash, money customers owe, inventory) minus the bills due within a year. A thin or negative cushion means less room to absorb a bad quarter.
• Retained earnings ÷ total assets. All the profit the company has kept over its life. A long history of losses, or of paying out more than it earned, shows up here.
• Operating profit ÷ total assets. How much the business earns from its assets right now. This ratio carries a heavy weight.
• Book equity ÷ total liabilities. What the owners’ stake is worth on the balance sheet compared with everything the company owes.

The formula is Z″ = 6.56 × the first + 3.26 × the second + 6.72 × the third + 1.05 × the fourth. Every input comes from the company’s own annual report. The share price plays no part, so the score doesn’t move when the stock does.

How to read the score

• 2.60 and above: safe zone.
• 1.10 to 2.60: grey zone. The model can’t tell either way.
• Below 1.10: distress zone, the companies on this list.
• Below zero: the weakest readings. On a company page, a Z″ below zero also caps the health score, which keeps the verdict label at Red Flags.

What this list can’t tell you

• Whether a company will fail. Most companies in the distress zone don’t go bankrupt. The score says the numbers resemble those of companies that struggled; it doesn’t predict any one outcome.
• Why the score is low. Some companies borrow heavily on purpose to buy back shares, which shrinks book equity and retained earnings without any crisis. Others have just made a large acquisition. The filings tell you which story applies.
• Anything about banks and insurers. Their balance sheets don’t separate short-term from long-term items, which the formula needs, so Filing.fyi doesn’t compute Z″ for them and they won’t appear here.
• What changed since the last annual report. The score uses the latest full year. A new loan, a lost customer or a recovery since then won’t show until the next annual report.

How to follow up on a name

1. Open the company page and read the AI-written summary and the other three score cards. A low Z″ next to a weak Piotroski F-Score tells a different story than a low Z″ next to strong cash flow.
2. Open the latest 10-K from the filing timeline. Read the liquidity section of Management’s Discussion and Analysis, the debt notes (what is due, and when), and the auditor’s report for any going-concern paragraph.
3. Check the company’s recent 8-K filings for new borrowing, asset sales or changes in its lenders’ terms.

The Altman Z-Score lesson works through the formula step by step with a made-up company.

Related lists

• Value-trap radar: companies with high Beneish M-Scores, a flag for numbers that look too good. A company on both lists deserves a careful read.
• Highest Piotroski: the strength side, companies passing most of Piotroski’s nine health checks.

Common questions

A company I follow is on this list. What does that mean? That its latest annual numbers sit in the zone Altman’s model associates with financial strain. It is a reason to read the filings closely, not a verdict on the company and not advice to do anything.

Why are some large, well-known companies here? Big companies that borrow heavily to buy back their own shares can end up with small or negative book equity, which pulls Z″ down even when the business earns plenty. Capital-heavy industries can also sit low for long stretches. The filings show whether the low score reflects strain or a deliberate financing choice.

Why did the scores change in October 2026? Until then, Filing.fyi computed Altman’s original manufacturing formula, which uses the share price, but graded it with the Z″ cutoffs. Every company was rescored with Z″ on 2026-10-13, so the formula and the cutoffs now match.