What is debt-to-equity?
Debt-to-equity compares what a company has borrowed with its shareholders' equity. Equity is what the owners would keep if every asset were sold and every liability paid.[S1] A ratio of 2 means $2 of debt for each $1 of equity.[S1]
How is debt-to-equity worked out?
Debt-to-equity = total debt ÷ shareholders' equity.
The SEC's beginners' guide puts total liabilities on top instead.[S1] Cityfort counts borrowings: bank loans, commercial paper (short-term IOUs) and bonds.[S2] Some pages also count finance leases (Lowe's does); others leave leases out (Microsoft). Those two pages say so in their notes.
Microsoft's shareholders' equity on Cityfort is $470.5B (Sep 30, 2026). Its debt-to-equity is 0.08 (Sep 30, 2026): dollars of debt for each dollar of equity.
Where do you find it in a 10-K or 10-Q?
Both inputs sit on the balance sheet. In a 10-K, that is in Item 8.[S3] In a 10-Q, it is in Part I, Item 1.[S4]
Each issue of long-term debt, with its interest rate and maturity, appears on the balance sheet or in a note.[S2]
What happens when equity is below zero?
Equity is assets minus liabilities.[S1] Cash spent on share buybacks lowers assets but not liabilities, so equity falls too.
When liabilities are larger than assets, equity is negative and the ratio has no meaning. Cityfort leaves it blank. Lowe's equity on Cityfort is −$7.4B (Jul 31, 2026), and its page explains the figure.