Glencore plc (GLEN.L) stock analysis

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

About Glencore plc

Glencore plc is a Basic Materials company (Industrial Materials) based in Switzerland, listed on LSE as GLEN.L.

What our checks show for GLEN.L

Red flags

• Operating profit covers interest only 1.1 times: a weak year could make the payments hard.
• The net margin fell by 2.3 points over 5 years, to 0.1%: the company keeps less of each sale as profit.
• The gross margin fell by 3.9 points, to 2.2%: costs are rising faster than prices.
• Revenue fell 0.4% a year over the last 3 years.
• The net margin is only 0.1%: little room if costs rise.
• The dividend takes 328% of profit: little cushion if profit falls.
• The stock has fallen as much as 87% from a peak. Would you have held through that?
• Recovering from its deepest fall took about 6.4 years.

Warning signs

• Net debt is 3.7x a year of EBITDA (debt/equity 1.08). That limits room in a downturn and raises refinancing risk.
• Analysts expect only about 4.9% a year of growth in revenue.
• Earnings per share fell 71.4% a year over the last 3 years.
• Net profit fell 72.2% a year over the last 3 years.
• Free cash flow is only 0.2% of revenue.
• Return on capital (ROCE) is only 9%.

Strengths

• Operating cash flow is 17.41x net profit: the profit arrives as real cash.
• Analysts expect earnings per share to grow about 176% a year over the next years.
• Analysts expect the net margin to improve by 2.5 points from today's 0.1%.
• A large company: market value $84.28 billion.
• Beta 0.51: the stock usually moves less than the market.
• Actively traded: about 38.8 million shares a day.

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Questions

What grade does Glencore plc (GLEN.L) have?

In our weekly check, Glencore plc 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 GLEN.L stock?

This week's biggest flags for Glencore plc: Weak interest cover, Margins falling, Gross margin falling. In total 14 of 25 checks show a warning or a red flag.

What does Glencore plc do?

Glencore plc is a Basic Materials company (Industrial Materials) based in Switzerland, listed on LSE as GLEN.L.

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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