Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings
Through the investors’ lenses
Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.
Warren Buffett 2/4
| Measure | KNX | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | $58.61m | positive | ✓ |
| Return on equity | 0.9% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.25x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 2.9% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 2 of 4. To be clear: Warren Buffett has never said anything about Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Terry Smith 2/4
| Measure | KNX | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 2.4% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Cash conversion | 19.21x | median 1.78x | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 2.9% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.25x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 2 of 4. To be clear: Terry Smith has never said anything about Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Charlie Munger 0/3
| Measure | KNX | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 2.4% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Return on equity | 0.9% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Operating margin | 2.9% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 3. To be clear: Charlie Munger has never said anything about Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Chuck Akre 2/4
| Measure | KNX | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | 0.9% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.25x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Cash conversion | 19.21x | median 1.78x | ✓ |
| Return on equity, sustained | 1 of 10 | 8 of 10 above median | ✗ |
Passes 2 of 4. To be clear: Chuck Akre has never said anything about Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Philip Fisher 0/4
| Measure | KNX | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 2.9% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Net margin | 0.9% | median 10.2% | ✗ |
| Return on capital employed | 2.4% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Operating margin, held or improving | 2.9% | 10-yr median 8.8% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 4. To be clear: Philip Fisher has never said anything about Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Walter Schloss 1/2
| Measure | KNX | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 0.86x | median 1.25x | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.25x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Walter Schloss has never said anything about Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 1/2
| Measure | KNX | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 0.86x | 2.00x published | ✗ |
| Long-term debt to working capital | — | 1.00x published | — |
| Positive earnings, ten years running | 10 yrs | 10 published | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Benjamin Graham has never said anything about Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Joel Greenblatt 0/1
| Measure | KNX | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 2.4% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 1. To be clear: Joel Greenblatt has never said anything about Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Peter Lynch 1/2
| Measure | KNX | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt to equity | 0.25x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Net margin | 0.9% | median 10.2% | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Peter Lynch has never said anything about Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
| Basis | Payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | 175.6% | whyThe figure most screeners publish. |
| Operating cash flow | 9.3% | whyBefore capital spending. |
| Free cash flow | 24.9% | whyAfter maintaining the business. |
Spread between highest and lowest: 166.3 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
Coverage rating 34 / 100 — Strained. ? Peer standing 30/50Direction 4/30Stability 0/20
Against its own history: 24.9% this year vs 13.7% median over the prior 5. A gap this size is usually a one-off — acquisition, settlement, cyclical trough — not a dividend that stopped being funded. The rating reads the latest year; the table shows the trend.
Free cash flow payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 24.9% |
| 2023-12-31 | 101.2% |
| 2022-12-31 | 12.3% |
| 2021-12-31 | 9.7% |
| 2020-12-31 | 13.7% |
| 2019-12-31 | 430.7% |
59% of the 74 industrials here pay out more.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $0.720 ÷ diluted EPS $0.410
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $117m ÷ operating cash flow $1,267m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $117m ÷ (operating cash flow $1,267m − capex $795m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-19 · accession 0001492691-26-000016
All public at sec.gov — you should not have to take our word for it.
Computed straight from SEC XBRL. A number that looks wrong to you is more useful to us than agreement — tell us.
What the free cash flow payout ratio measures, and where every company here sits on it.
Also on: uncovered on earnings, covered on the basis that applies · rated strained · when it files.
When this changes
Every figure above is recomputed whenever Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings files. The monthly letter carries what filed, what moved, and one finding computed across every company here.