Is Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Using Too Much Debt?
Is Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Using Too Much Debt?
Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' 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 can see that Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) does use debt in its business. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?
禾倫•巴菲特曾經說過:「波動性遠非風險的代名詞。」當你評估一個公司是否有風險時,考慮其資產負債表是再自然不過的事情,因爲企業破產時通常涉及債務。我們可以看到紐交所上市公司利西亞車行有使用債務。但更重要的問題是,這些債務所帶來的風險有多大?
When Is Debt A Problem?
什麼時候負債才是一個問題?
Debt is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.
債務是幫助企業增長的工具,但如果一個企業無法還清其債權人的債務,那麼它的存在就取決於債權人的意願。在最壞的情況下,如果一個公司無法償還其債權人的債務,它可以破產。然而,更普遍(但仍然昂貴)的情況是一家公司必須以便宜的股價稀釋股東權益來控制債務。話雖如此,最常見的情況是一家公司合理地管理其債務並從中受益。當我們考慮一家公司使用債務的情況時,我們先看現金和債務的總和。
How Much Debt Does Lithia Motors Carry?
利西亞車行的負債有多少?
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at March 2024 Lithia Motors had debt of US$12.6b, up from US$8.59b in one year. On the flip side, it has US$404.6m in cash leading to net debt of about US$12.1b.
下面的圖片(可以單擊以獲取更大的細節)顯示,截至2024年3月,利西亞車行的債務爲126億美元,比一年前的859億美元增加了約46%。反之,它有4.046億美元的現金,從而導致淨債務約爲121億美元。
![debt-equity-history-analysis](https://usnewsfile.moomoo.com/public/MM-PersistNewsContentImage/7781/20240627/0-6dca47926e59be648a83bd89b7fae7dd-0-b17bd1d9768d0ac9d692af5b8bb5dd1c.png/big)
How Strong Is Lithia Motors' Balance Sheet?
利西亞車行的資產負債表實際情況如何?
The latest balance sheet data shows that Lithia Motors had liabilities of US$6.59b due within a year, and liabilities of US$9.17b falling due after that. Offsetting this, it had US$404.6m in cash and US$1.25b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$14.1b.
最新的資產負債表數據顯示,利西亞車行有65.9億美元的短期債務和91.7億美元的長期債務。與此相應的是,它有4.046億美元的現金和12.5億美元的應收賬款,這些應收賬款在12個月內到期。因此,它的負債比現金和(短期)應收賬款總和多141億美元。這種不足在這家價值68.9億美元的公司身上產生了沉重的負擔,就像一個孩子揹着裝滿書、體育裝備和小號的巨大揹包一樣。因此,我們毫無疑問地會密切關注它的資產負債表。最終,如果債權人要求償還,利西亞車行可能需要進行重大重新資本化。
The deficiency here weighs heavily on the US$6.89b company itself, as if a child were struggling under the weight of an enormous back-pack full of books, his sports gear, and a trumpet. So we'd watch its balance sheet closely, without a doubt. At the end of the day, Lithia Motors would probably need a major re-capitalization if its creditors were to demand repayment.
淨債務/收益前利潤、利息、折舊和攤銷之比爲6.3,因此可以說利西亞車行擁有相當多的債務。但好消息是,它具有相當安心的利息覆蓋倍數,爲4.2倍,表明它可以負責任地履行其義務。更加令人擔憂的是,利西亞車行實際上讓其收益前利潤減少了5.8%。如果這種收益趨勢繼續下去,公司將面臨償還債務的嚴峻挑戰。在分析債務水平時,資產負債表是明顯的起點。但是,與其說是資產負債表,不如說是未來的盈利能力,這更能決定利西亞車行維持健康資產負債表的能力。因此,如果您想了解專業人士的看法,您可能會發現分析師獲利預測的這份免費報告很有趣。最後,雖然稅務部門可能喜歡會計利潤,但債權人只接受冷酷的現金。因此,邏輯上講,看看實際自由現金流與收益前利潤比例的佔比是合理的。考慮到過去三年,利西亞車行實際上錄得了總體現金流出流。對於一個自由現金流爲負的公司來說,債務通常更昂貴,幾乎總是更危險的。股東們應該希望有所改善。
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). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.
我們使用兩個主要的比率來告訴我們相對於收益的債務水平。第一個是淨債務除以利息、稅、折舊和攤銷前利潤(EBITDA),而第二個是其利潤前利息和稅(EBIT)覆蓋其利息費用的次數(或其利息覆蓋率,簡稱)。因此,我們考慮與折舊和攤銷費用相關的盈利以及沒有相關費用的盈利相對於債務水平。
With a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 6.3, it's fair to say Lithia Motors does have a significant amount of debt. But the good news is that it boasts fairly comforting interest cover of 4.2 times, suggesting it can responsibly service its obligations. Even more troubling is the fact that Lithia Motors actually let its EBIT decrease by 5.8% over the last year. If that earnings trend continues the company will face an uphill battle to pay off its debt. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Lithia Motors's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.
坦率地說,利西亞車行的淨債務/收益前利潤、利息、折舊和攤銷之比和其控制其總負債的歷史記錄讓我們對其債務水平感到不太舒服。即使其收益前利潤增長率也沒有激發我們太多的信心。考慮到所有上述因素,看起來利西亞車行的債務太多了。這種風險對於一些人來說是可以接受的,但對我們來說肯定不會引起興趣。在分析債務時,資產負債表顯然是需要重點關注的領域。然而,並不是所有的投資風險都存在於資產負債表中——遠非如此。例如,我們已經確定了對於利西亞車行而言的1個警示信號,您應該意識到這一點。
Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So the logical step is to look at the proportion of that EBIT that is matched by actual free cash flow. Considering the last three years, Lithia Motors actually recorded a cash outflow, overall. Debt is usually more expensive, and almost always more risky in the hands of a company with negative free cash flow. Shareholders ought to hope for an improvement.
最後,雖然稅務部門可能喜歡會計利潤,但債權人只接受冷酷的現金。因此,看到與實際自由現金流相匹配的收益前利潤的比例是一個邏輯步驟。考慮到過去三年,利西亞車行實際上錄得了總體現金流出流。對於一個自由現金流爲負的公司來說,債務通常更昂貴,幾乎總是更危險的。股東們應該希望有所改善。
Our View
我們的觀點
To be frank both Lithia Motors's net debt to EBITDA and its track record of staying on top of its total liabilities make us rather uncomfortable with its debt levels. And even its EBIT growth rate fails to inspire much confidence. Taking into account all the aforementioned factors, it looks like Lithia Motors has too much debt. That sort of riskiness is ok for some, but it certainly doesn't float our boat. 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. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Lithia Motors that you should be aware of.
坦白地說,利西亞車行的淨債務/ EBIDTA比率和保持總負債的紀錄讓我們對其債務水平感到相當不安。即使考慮到其EBIT增長率,也未能激發我們太多信心。綜合考慮上述因素,看起來利西亞車行的債務過高。這種風險對某些人來說是可以接受的,但對我們來說確實不可取。 顯然,資產負債表是分析債務的關鍵領域。 然而,並非所有的投資風險都存在於資產負債表中,遠非如此。例如,我們已經發現了利西亞車行應注意的 1個預警信號。
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.
歸根結底,專注於沒有淨債務的公司往往更好。您可以訪問我們的特別列表,其中包括所有表現出盈利增長軌跡的公司。這是免費的。
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