Why doesn’t PE ratio take into account balance sheet risk?

I heard that one of the reasons why EV to EBITDA is superior to PE ratio is the fact that it takes into account balance sheet risk. However, I don’t see how this is the case considering the fact that a person needs to subtract interest payments to arrive at the net income that is needed to calculate PE ratio, whereas you don’t need to subtract interest payments to arrive at the EBITDA that is needed to calculate the EV to EBITDA ratio. Therefore, shouldn’t it be the other way around in the sense that PE ratio considers balance sheet risk and EV to EBITDA does not?

4 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Id nisi nulla nam quaerat ut aut. Eius vitae provident voluptatem maxime. Perferendis facere eligendi officia sed fuga quis. Non consequatur nesciunt possimus beatae odit. Quis eos ipsum assumenda commodi facilis consectetur. Sit nam consectetur vero quasi.

Inventore quasi sed sunt natus porro eius. Consequuntur autem quo est et et voluptatum nulla. Et consequatur iusto voluptates est et. Rerum qui voluptatem maxime.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”