Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (CGBD) stock analysis

In our weekly check, Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. is graded D (A to F). Of 25 checks on debt, profit, cash flow and trend: 11 pass, warnings: 6, red flags: 8.

About Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc.

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. is a Financial Services company (Asset Management) based in the United States, listed on NASDAQ as CGBD.

What our checks show for CGBD

Red flags

• Net debt is 11.6x a year of EBITDA (debt/equity 1.21). That limits room in a downturn and raises refinancing risk.
• Operating profit covers interest only 1.1 times: a weak year could make the payments hard.
• The net margin fell by 65.2 points over 5 years, to 15.5%: the company keeps less of each sale as profit.
• The gross margin fell by 3.9 points, to 80.6%: costs are rising faster than prices.
• The dividend takes 311% of profit: little cushion if profit falls.
• The stock has fallen as much as 78% from a peak. Would you have held through that?
• The share count grew by 25% in 2 years: each shareholder owns a smaller slice.
• Return on capital (ROCE) is only 4.3%.

Warning signs

• Analysts expect only about 0.3% a year of growth in revenue.
• Earnings per share fell 31.4% a year over the last 3 years.
• Net profit fell 24.4% a year over the last 3 years.
• A small company (market value $703 million): usually riskier and followed by fewer analysts.
• The stock is still below its previous peak.
• Thinly traded (about 490 thousand shares a day): buying and selling can move the price.

Strengths

• Operating cash flow is 8.09x net profit: the profit arrives as real cash.
• Analysts expect earnings per share to grow about 48.5% a year over the next years.
• Analysts expect the net margin to improve by 22.8 points from today's 15.5%.
• Revenue grew 19.8% a year over the last 3 years.
• Free cash flow is 126% of revenue: cash for dividends, buybacks or growth.
• Pay in shares is only 0% of free cash flow.

Next earnings report: 2026-11-05

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Questions

What grade does Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (CGBD) have?

In our weekly check, Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. is graded D (A to F). Of 25 checks on debt, profit, cash flow and trend: 11 pass, warnings: 6, red flags: 8. The grade is a risk check, not a buy or sell recommendation.

What are the main risks of CGBD stock?

This week's biggest flags for Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc.: High debt, Weak interest cover, Margins falling. In total 14 of 25 checks show a warning or a red flag.

What does Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. do?

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. is a Financial Services company (Asset Management) based in the United States, listed on NASDAQ as CGBD.

When does Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. report earnings next?

The next earnings report is expected on 2026-11-05. We re-run the checks every week, so the grade can change after it.

The grade is a risk check, not a price forecast, and not investment advice. In our 10-year test (S&P 500, 2016-2026), stocks we graded A or B fell more than 30% 2-3 times less often than D or F, without a lower average return.

Updated 2026-10-24

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