Here's Why First Advantage (NASDAQ:FA) Can Manage Its Debt Responsibly
Here's Why First Advantage (NASDAQ:FA) Can Manage Its Debt Responsibly
David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the 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 First Advantage Corporation (NASDAQ:FA) does have debt on its balance sheet. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?
大衛·伊本說得好:“波動性不是我們關心的風險,我們關心的是避免資本永久損失。”當你檢查一家公司的風險時,考慮到它的資產負債表是很自然的,因爲當一家業務崩潰時通常涉及到債務。我們注意到第一優勢公司(納斯達克代碼:FA)的資產負債表上確實有債務。但是,這些債務是否會對股東造成影響呢?
When Is Debt Dangerous?
債務何時有危險?
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. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. 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. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.
當企業無法自如地履行債務時,如不能通過自由現金流或按有吸引力的價格籌集資金,則債務和其他負債對其構成風險。資本主義的一部分和本質是“創造性破壞”這一過程,其中落敗的企業被其銀行家無情地清算。然而,一種更頻繁但仍然代價高昂的情況是,一家公司必須以低價出售股票,永久稀釋股東,以此來挽救其資產負債表。當然,借債的好處在於它通常代表着廉價資本,特別是當其用於取代公司具有高回報能力的再投資時。在我們審查債務水平時,首先要考慮現金和負債水平。
What Is First Advantage's Debt?
第一優勢有多少債務?
As you can see below, First Advantage had US$558.9m of debt, at March 2024, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. On the flip side, it has US$249.9m in cash leading to net debt of about US$309.0m.
正如下圖所示,第一優勢於2024年3月有5.589億美元的債務,與前一年大致相同。單擊圖表以獲取更詳細信息。另一方面,它有2.499億美元的現金,因此淨債務約爲3.090億美元。
![debt-equity-history-analysis](https://usnewsfile.moomoo.com/public/MM-PersistNewsContentImage/7781/20240601/0-b00a4f485fcda1b7cd248ed3a3d235d4-0-ebb2c715afda0b07b7399905523a02e1.png/big)
How Strong Is First Advantage's Balance Sheet?
第一優勢的資產負債表有多強?
According to the last reported balance sheet, First Advantage had liabilities of US$93.2m due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$631.0m due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had US$249.9m in cash and US$131.6m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$342.7m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.
根據最後公佈的資產負債表,第一優勢有9,320萬美元的負債需在12個月內償還,以及超過12個月需償還6310萬美元的負債。抵銷的是,它有2.499億美元的現金和1.316億美元的應收賬款,這些款項將在12個月內到期。因此,它的負債總額比其現金和近期應收賬款還要多3.427億美元。
Of course, First Advantage has a market capitalization of US$2.34b, so these liabilities are probably manageable. Having said that, it's clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse.
當然,第一優勢的市值爲23.4億美元,因此這些負債可能是可以應對的。話雖如此,顯然我們應該繼續關注其資產負債表,以免其惡化。
We use two main ratios to inform us about debt levels relative to earnings. The first is net debt divided by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), while the second is how many times its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) covers its interest expense (or its interest cover, for short). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.
Service Corporation International的債務是其EBITDA的3.5倍,而其EBIT可覆蓋其利息開支的3.7倍。綜合考慮,雖然我們不希望看到債務水平上升,但我們認爲它可以應對當前的槓桿。好消息是,Service Corporation International在過去12個月中將其EBIT提高了2.9%,從而逐漸降低了其相對於收益的債務水平。毫無疑問,我們從資產負債表中獲得了有關債務的大部分內容。但是,相對於資產負債表,更重要的是未來收益,這將決定Service Corporation International維持健康資產負債表的能力。如果您關注未來,您可以查看此免費報告,其中有分析師的利潤預測。
Even though First Advantage's debt is only 1.6, its interest cover is really very low at 2.4. In large part that's it has so much depreciation and amortisation. These charges may be non-cash, so they could be excluded when it comes to paying down debt. But the accounting charges are there for a reason -- some assets are seen to be losing value. In any case, it's safe to say the company has meaningful debt. Shareholders should be aware that First Advantage's EBIT was down 24% last year. If that decline continues then paying off debt will be harder than selling foie gras at a vegan convention. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if First Advantage can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.
雖然First Advantage的負債率僅爲1.6,但其利息覆蓋率爲2.4,真的非常低。這在很大程度上是由於它有很多的折舊和攤銷。這些費用可能是非現金的,因此在償還債務時可以將其排除在外。但會計費用是有原因的——一些資產被視爲正在貶值。無論如何,可以肯定地說,這家公司有着有意義的債務。股東應該注意,First Advantage的EBIt去年下降了24%。如果這種下降持續下去,那麼償還債務將比在素食主義者會議上出售鵝肝更加困難。資產負債表顯然是分析債務時需要關注的領域。但歸根結底,業務未來的盈利能力將決定First Advantage是否可以逐漸加強其資產負債表。如果您想了解專業人士的看法,您可能會發現分析師盈利預測的這份免費報告很有趣。
Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So the logical step is to look at the proportion of that EBIT that is matched by actual free cash flow. Over the last three years, First Advantage actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT. That sort of strong cash conversion gets us as excited as the crowd when the beat drops at a Daft Punk concert.
最後,一家企業需要自由現金流來償還債務;會計利潤是不夠的。因此,邏輯上來看,我們需要查看與實際自由現金流匹配的息稅前利潤佔比。在過去的三年中,第一優勢的自由現金流實際上比息稅前利潤還要高。那種強大的現金轉換讓我們感到興奮,就像Daft Punk演唱會上的人群一樣。
Our View
我們的觀點
Based on what we've seen First Advantage is not finding it easy, given its EBIT growth rate, but the other factors we considered give us cause to be optimistic. There's no doubt that its ability to to convert EBIT to free cash flow is pretty flash. Looking at all this data makes us feel a little cautious about First Advantage's debt levels. While debt does have its upside in higher potential returns, we think shareholders should definitely consider how debt levels might make the stock more risky. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for First Advantage you should be aware of.
基於我們所看到的,First Advantage的EBIt增長率並不容易,但我們考慮的其他因素讓我們有理由持樂觀態度。毫無疑問,它將EBIt轉換爲自由現金流的能力非常出色。查看所有這些數據使我們對First Advantage的債務水平感到有些謹慎。雖然債務確實有其上升潛力的好處,但我們認爲股東應該考慮債務水平如何使股票更加風險。資產負債表顯然是分析債務時需要關注的領域。但並非所有的投資風險都存在於資產負債表之內,甚至遠不止於此。例如:我們已經發現了一項First Advantage的預警信號,你需要注意。
If, after all that, you're more interested in a fast growing company with a rock-solid balance sheet, then check out our list of net cash growth stocks without delay.
如果在所有這些之後,您更感興趣的是具有堅實資產負債表的快速增長公司,那麼不要拖延,查看我們的淨現金增長股票列表。
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這篇文章是Simply Wall St的一般性文章。我們根據歷史數據和分析師預測提供評論,只使用公正的方法論,我們的文章並不意味着提供任何金融建議。文章不構成買賣任何股票的建議,也不考慮您的目標或您的財務狀況。我們的目標是帶給您基本數據驅動的長期關注分析。請注意,我們的分析可能不考慮最新的價格敏感公司公告或定性材料。Simply Wall St沒有任何股票頭寸。