Is Woolworths (WOW) stock Halal?

Woolworths is a broadband and telecommunications services provider in the United States. Its primary function is to deliver high-speed internet, cable television, and digital phone services to both residential and business customers. WOW focuses on regions including the Midwest and Southeast, impacting telecommunications and digital content consumption sectors. Before any of that matters to a Muslim investor, one question comes first: is Woolworths stock Halal?

Is Woolworths Shariah compliant?

For a communications operator like Woolworths, AAOIFI Shariah Standard No. 21 has little quarrel with the service itself; the scrutiny falls on how the network is financed. Towers, spectrum and satellites are typically funded with debt, which the standard tolerates only below 30% of market capitalisation, a ratio that moves with the share price.

Does Woolworths pass the business activity test?

The activity screen is only part of the picture this month: Woolworths currently fails the non-permissible income screen, so the overall verdict is not compliant regardless of the business itself. The service itself, carrying calls and data, raises no Shariah objection; the scrutiny belongs to the debt financed network behind it.

Is Woolworths' income Halal?

No. Woolworths' income from impermissible sources currently exceeds AAOIFI's 5% revenue ceiling, which makes the stock non-compliant on this screen regardless of the others. The screen is reassessed monthly, so the status can change when new financial statements arrive.

Does Woolworths meet AAOIFI's debt and investment ratio requirements?

Yes. Both caps hold this month: interest bearing investments and interest bearing debt each stay below 30% of market capitalisation. Because the caps move with the share price, our Shariah Supervisory Board has WOW re-screened every month, and the result above always shows the latest verdict.

Tabadulat is an ADGM regulated brokerage whose license covers Shari'a Compliant Regulated Activities, as the FSRA permission names them. New to the terminology? Gharar and Maysir, Sukuk, Zakat and purification are all explained in plain English.

New to the four screens? Read AAOIFI Standards Explained: What Makes a Stock Halal?