Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Has A Pretty Healthy Balance Sheet
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) Has A Pretty Healthy Balance Sheet
Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. Importantly, Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) does carry debt. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?
傳奇基金經理李璐(得到查理·芒格的支持)曾經說過:「最大的投資風險不是價格的波動,而是你是否會遭受永久性的資本損失。」當我們考慮公司的風險時,我們總是喜歡看看它的債務使用情況,因爲債務過重會導致破產。重要的是,紐交所:安捷倫科技股份有限公司(NYSE:A)確實有負債。但更重要的問題是:這些債務帶來了多大的風險?
Why Does Debt Bring Risk?
爲什麼債務會帶來風險?
Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. 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. 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.
債務在業務擴張時能助力,直到欠債的時候。企業如果無法向債權人償還所欠債務,公司最壞的情況下會破產。另外,公司必須通過連續發行股票以超低的價格獲取新資本,以穩固其資產負債表,這是一種更頻繁但同樣代價高昂的情況。然而,最常見的情況是公司能夠合理地管理其負債,使之成爲權利。當我們思考一家公司的債務使用情況時,我們首先查看現金和債務的總額。
What Is Agilent Technologies's Net Debt?
安捷倫科技的淨債務是什麼?
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Agilent Technologies had debt of US$2.56b at the end of April 2024, a reduction from US$2.73b over a year. On the flip side, it has US$1.67b in cash leading to net debt of about US$885.0m.
下面的圖片(點擊可放大)顯示,安捷倫科技於2024年4月底的債務爲25.6億美元,比去年的27.3億美元有所減少。相反,它有16.7億美元的現金,淨債務約爲88500萬美元。
![big](https://newsfile.futunn.com/public/NN-PersistNewsContentImage/7781/20240814/0-d0cc3e1780269af83c5151bcb399111a-0-a2dcdb81ba2957f4796e7154c3eae31b.png/big)
A Look At Agilent Technologies' Liabilities
看到最近的資產負債表,我們可以看到安捷倫科技有19.6億美元的短期債務和26.8億美元的長期債務到期。抵消這些義務的是,它有16.7億美元的現金以及12.5億美元的應收賬款在12個月內到期。因此,其負債總額比其現金和短期應收賬款的組合多出1.72億美元。
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Agilent Technologies had liabilities of US$1.96b falling due within a year, and liabilities of US$2.68b due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$1.67b as well as receivables valued at US$1.25b due within 12 months. So its liabilities total US$1.72b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.
由於公開交易的安捷倫科技股票總值爲399億美元,因此這個水平的負債似乎不會構成重大威脅。但是有足夠的債務,我們一定會建議股東繼續監控資產負債表的情況。
Since publicly traded Agilent Technologies shares are worth a very impressive total of US$39.9b, it seems unlikely that this level of liabilities would be a major threat. But there are sufficient liabilities that we would certainly recommend shareholders continue to monitor the balance sheet, going forward.
安捷倫科技的淨債務僅爲EBITDA的0.55倍。而且它的EBIt覆蓋其利息費用高達64.5倍。因此,您可以認爲它受債務的威脅不比大象受老鼠的威脅更高。它的EBIt在過去一年中下降了24%,正如含糖汽水對健康一樣,下降的盈利對償還債務沒有任何幫助。分析債務水平時,資產負債表是起點,而最終決定安捷倫科技是否能保持健康資產負債表的還是未來的盈利。因此,如果您專注於未來,可以查看這份免費報告,以了解分析師的盈利預測。
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。
Agilent Technologies's net debt is only 0.55 times its EBITDA. And its EBIT covers its interest expense a whopping 64.5 times over. So you could argue it is no more threatened by its debt than an elephant is by a mouse. It is just as well that Agilent Technologies's load is not too heavy, because its EBIT was down 24% over the last year. When it comes to paying off debt, falling earnings are no more useful than sugary sodas are for your health. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Agilent Technologies'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.
讓人高興的是,安捷倫科技用其EBIt覆蓋其利息費用的能力,像毛茸茸的小狗一樣讓我們感到高興。但我們必須承認,我們發現其EBIt增長率的效果相反。綜合考慮所有上述因素,我們認爲安捷倫科技可以相當舒適地處理其債務。再加上,這種槓桿作用可以增加股東回報,但潛在的缺點則是更大的損失風險,因此值得監控資產負債表。毫無疑問,我們從資產負債表中獲得的關於債務的信息最多,但最終,每個公司都可能存在超出資產負債表之外的風險。例如——安捷倫科技有1個警示標誌,我們認爲您應該了解。
But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. 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, Agilent Technologies recorded free cash flow worth a fulsome 81% of its EBIT, which is stronger than we'd usually expect. That positions it well to pay down debt if desirable to do so.
但我們最後的考慮也很重要,因爲公司不能用虛假利潤支付債務,而需要用實際的現金。因此,邏輯的下一步是查看實際自由現金流匹配的EBIt的比例。在過去的三年中,安捷倫科技記錄了自由現金流價值的EBIt的81%,這比我們通常預期的要強。如果需要償還債務,這將使其處於有利地位。
Our View
我們的觀點
The good news is that Agilent Technologies's demonstrated ability to cover its interest expense with its EBIT delights us like a fluffy puppy does a toddler. But we must concede we find its EBIT growth rate has the opposite effect. Looking at all the aforementioned factors together, it strikes us that Agilent Technologies can handle its debt fairly comfortably. On the plus side, this leverage can boost shareholder returns, but the potential downside is more risk of loss, so it's worth monitoring the balance sheet. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. For example - Agilent Technologies has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
好消息是,安捷倫科技用其EBIt覆蓋其利息費用的能力讓我們感到像毛茸茸的小狗一樣高興。但我們必須承認,我們發現其EBIt增長率的效果相反。綜合考慮所有上述因素,我們認爲安捷倫科技可以相當舒適地處理其債務。再加上,這種槓桿作用可以增加股東回報,但潛在的缺點則是更大的損失風險,因此值得監控資產負債表。毫無疑問,我們從資產負債表中獲得的關於債務的信息最多,但最終,每個公司都可能存在超出資產負債表之外的風險。例如——安捷倫科技有1個警示標誌,我們認爲您應該了解。
If you're interested in investing in businesses that can grow profits without the burden of debt, then check out this free list of growing businesses that have net cash on the balance sheet.
如果您有興趣投資能夠在不負債的情況下增長利潤的企業,請查看這份免費列表,其中列出了在資產負債表上擁有淨現金的成長型企業。
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