Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) Takes On Some Risk With Its Use Of Debt
Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) Takes On Some Risk With Its Use Of Debt
The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' It's only natural to consider a company's balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often involved when a business collapses. We note that Light & Wonder, Inc. (NASDAQ:LNW) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.
由巴菲特的查理·芒格支持的外部基金经理李璐直言不讳地说:‘最大的投资风险不是价格的波动,而是你是否会遭受永久的资本损失。’ 在审视一家公司有多风险时,自然会考虑其资产负债表,因为当一项业务崩溃时,往往涉及债务。 我们注意到,Light & Wonder, Inc.(纳斯达克:LNW)确实在其资产负债表上有债务。 但真正的问题是,这些债务是否使公司变得有风险。
When Is Debt Dangerous?
债务何时有危险?
Debt and other liabilities become risky for a business when it cannot easily fulfill those obligations, either with free cash flow or by raising capital at an attractive price. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. Of course, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.
当企业无法通过自由现金流或以有吸引力的价格筹集资本来轻松履行债务和其他负债时,债务和其他负债就变得高风险。在最坏的情况下,如果企业无法偿还债权人,它可能会破产。虽然这种情况并不常见,但我们经常看到负债企业因为债权人迫使其以低价筹集资本而导致股东权益永久稀释。当然,债务的好处是它通常代表廉价资本,特别是当它取代以高回报率进行再投资的公司稀释时。在考虑企业使用多少债务时,首先要看它的现金和债务情况。
How Much Debt Does Light & Wonder Carry?
Light & Wonder 拥有多少债务?
As you can see below, Light & Wonder had US$3.87b of debt, at September 2024, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. However, it also had US$347.0m in cash, and so its net debt is US$3.53b.
正如您在下面所看到的,截止到2024年9月,Light & Wonder 的债务为38.7亿美金,与前一年大致相同。您可以点击图表以获取更多细节。 然而,它同时也有34700万美金的现金,因此其净债务为35.3亿美金。

How Healthy Is Light & Wonder's Balance Sheet?
Light & Wonder的资产负债表健康吗?
According to the last reported balance sheet, Light & Wonder had liabilities of US$680.0m due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$4.06b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had US$347.0m in cash and US$615.0m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total US$3.78b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.
根据最新报告的资产负债表,Light & Wonder在12个月内有68000万美元的负债,12个月后有40.6亿美元的负债。抵消这部分负债的是它拥有34700万美元的现金和61500万美元的应收账款,这些应收账款在12个月内到期。因此,它的负债总额比现金和短期应收账款的总和多出37.8亿美元。
While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since Light & Wonder has a market capitalization of US$8.62b, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. However, it is still worthwhile taking a close look at its ability to pay off debt.
虽然这看起来很多,但情况并不糟糕,因为Light & Wonder的市值为86.2亿美元,因此如果需要,它可能通过增资来增强资产负债表。然而,仔细看看它偿还债务的能力仍然是值得的。
In order to size up a company's debt relative to its earnings, we calculate its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) divided by its interest expense (its interest cover). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio).
为了衡量公司相对于其收益的债务情况,我们计算其净负债除以利息、税项、折旧和摊销前收益(EBITDA)和其利息支出除以利息前收益(EBIT)的比例(其利息覆盖率)。这种方法的优点是,我们既考虑了债务的绝对量(净负债与 EBITDA),又考虑到了与该债务相关的实际利息支出(其利息覆盖率)。
Light & Wonder's debt is 3.3 times its EBITDA, and its EBIT cover its interest expense 2.8 times over. This suggests that while the debt levels are significant, we'd stop short of calling them problematic. On a lighter note, we note that Light & Wonder grew its EBIT by 25% in the last year. If it can maintain that kind of improvement, its debt load will begin to melt away like glaciers in a warming world. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Light & Wonder's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.
Light & Wonder的债务是其EBITDA的3.3倍,而其EBIT覆盖利息费用的倍数为2.8。这表明尽管债务水平很高,但我们不至于称其为有问题。轻松一点的是,我们注意到Light & Wonder在过去一年中EBIT增长了25%。如果它能维持这种改善,其债务负担将像温暖世界中的冰川一样开始消融。当分析债务时,资产负债表显然是关注的重点。但未来的收益,更多的将判断Light & Wonder在未来维持健康资产负债表的能力。因此,如果你关注未来,可以查看这份分析师利润预测的免费报告。
Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So it's worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. In the last three years, Light & Wonder created free cash flow amounting to 7.3% of its EBIT, an uninspiring performance. That limp level of cash conversion undermines its ability to manage and pay down debt.
最后,企业需要自由现金流来偿还债务;会计利润并不足以应对。因此,值得检查那部分EBIT有多少是由自由现金流支持的。在过去三年中,Light & Wonder创造的自由现金流占其EBIT的7.3%,表现不佳。这种低水平的现金转化削弱了其管理和偿还债务的能力。
Our View
我们的观点
Light & Wonder's interest cover and conversion of EBIT to free cash flow definitely weigh on it, in our esteem. But its EBIT growth rate tells a very different story, and suggests some resilience. Looking at all the angles mentioned above, it does seem to us that Light & Wonder is a somewhat risky investment as a result of its debt. Not all risk is bad, as it can boost share price returns if it pays off, but this debt risk is worth keeping in mind. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Light & Wonder (including 1 which is potentially serious) .
光与奇迹的利息覆盖率以及EBIt转化为自由现金流的能力在我们的眼中确实对其影响重大。但其EBIt增长率则讲述了一个截然不同的故事,并暗示了一定的韧性。考虑到以上所有角度,我们认为光与奇迹由于其债务而成为一种有些风险的投资。并非所有风险都是坏事,如果风险得到回报,它可以提高股票价格回报,但这项债务风险值得牢记。在分析债务水平时,资产负债表显然是一个开始之处。但归根结底,每家公司都可能存在资产负债表以外的风险。为此,您应该了解我们发现的光与奇迹的两个警告信号(其中包括一个潜在的严重信号)。
At the end of the day, it's often better to focus on companies that are free from net debt. You can access our special list of such companies (all with a track record of profit growth). It's free.
每天结束时,通常更好地关注那些没有净债务的公司。您可以查看我们特别名单上的这些公司(所有这些公司都有盈利增长记录)。这是免费的。
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