Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Seems To Use Debt Quite Sensibly
Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Seems To Use Debt Quite Sensibly
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.' So it seems the smart money knows that debt - which is usually involved in bankruptcies - is a very important factor, when you assess how risky a company is. Importantly, Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) does carry debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?
傳奇基金經理李錄(查理芒格支持的)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。」因此,聰明的投資者知道,債務(通常與破產有關)是評估一家公司風險性的一個非常重要的因素。重要的是,洛克希德馬丁公司(紐交所代碼:LMT)確實有負債。但是股東們是否應該擔心其債務使用?
When Is Debt Dangerous?
債務何時有危險?
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 common (but still painful) scenario is that it has to raise new equity capital at a low price, thus permanently diluting shareholders. By replacing dilution, though, debt can be an extremely good tool for businesses that need capital to invest in growth 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.
債務是幫助企業增長的工具,但如果企業無力償還債權人,則它存在於債權人的掌控之中。在最壞的情況下,如果公司無法償還其債權人,則會破產。然而,更常見(但仍然痛苦)的情況是它需要以較低的價格籌集新的股權資本,從而永久稀釋股東的權益。但是,通過取代稀釋,債務可以是企業在需要以高回報投資於增長的資本方面非常好的工具。在考慮企業使用多少債務時,首先要看它的現金和債務的結合。
How Much Debt Does Lockheed Martin Carry?
洛克希德馬丁承擔了多少債務?
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at June 2024 Lockheed Martin had debt of US$19.3b, up from US$17.5b in one year. However, it does have US$2.52b in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about US$16.7b.
下面的圖片顯示,截至2024年6月,洛克希德馬丁的債務爲193億美元,比一年前的175億美元有所增加。然而,它有25.2億美元的現金抵消這一點,導致淨債務約爲167億美元。
![1724852931430](https://usnewsfile.moomoo.com/public/MM-PersistNewsContentImage/7781/20240828/43011033-0-17fa755f98795432778b9b74c67b9fd3.webp/bigjpg)
How Strong Is Lockheed Martin's Balance Sheet?
洛克希德馬丁的資產負債表有多堅實?
The latest balance sheet data shows that Lockheed Martin had liabilities of US$18.5b due within a year, and liabilities of US$30.4b falling due after that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$2.52b as well as receivables valued at US$16.8b due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$29.5b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.
最新的資產負債表數據顯示,洛克希德馬丁有185億美元的短期債務,以及304億美元的到期債務。抵消這些債務,它有25.2億美元的現金和價值168億美元的應收賬款,這些賬款將在12個月內到期。因此,其債務總額超過現金和近期應收賬款合計295億美元。
This deficit isn't so bad because Lockheed Martin is worth a massive US$133.0b, and thus could probably raise enough capital to shore up its balance sheet, if the need arose. But it's clear that we should definitely closely examine whether it can manage its debt without dilution.
這個赤字並不嚴重,因爲洛克希德馬丁的價值達到了1,330億美元,所以如果需要,它可能能夠籌集足夠的資金來支撐其資產負債表。但很明顯,我們應該仔細檢查它是否能夠在不稀釋股權的情況下管理其債務。
We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.
通過查看公司的淨債務與利息、稅、折舊、攤銷前利潤(EBITDA)之比以及它的利息費用(利息覆蓋率)可以衡量一個公司的債務負擔與收益能力。因此,我們考慮將債務與有無計算折舊和攤銷費用的收益相對比。
With a debt to EBITDA ratio of 1.6, Lockheed Martin uses debt artfully but responsibly. And the fact that its trailing twelve months of EBIT was 8.9 times its interest expenses harmonizes with that theme. On the other hand, Lockheed Martin saw its EBIT drop by 2.3% in the last twelve months. That sort of decline, if sustained, will obviously make debt harder to handle. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Lockheed Martin can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.
洛克希德馬丁的債務與EBITDA的比率爲1.6,它巧妙而負責地利用債務。與此主題相一致的是,過去12個月的EBIT是其利息支出的8.9倍。另一方面,洛克希德馬丁在過去12個月中的EBIT下降了2.3%。如果這種下降趨勢持續下去,無疑會使債務更難處理。毫無疑問,我們從資產負債表中可以得到關於債務的最多信息。但最終,企業未來的盈利能力將決定洛克希德馬丁是否能夠逐漸加強其資產負債表。因此,如果你關注未來,你可以查看一份免費報告,其中列出了分析師的盈利預測。
But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. Over the last three years, Lockheed Martin recorded free cash flow worth a fulsome 85% of its EBIT, which is stronger than we'd usually expect. That puts it in a very strong position to pay down debt.
但我們的最後一個考慮因素也很重要,因爲一家公司不能用紙上利潤來償還債務,而是需要真金白銀的現金。因此,我們明確需要看一下這個EBIT是否帶來相應的自由現金流。在過去的三年中,洛克希德馬丁的自由現金流價值達到了其EBIT的85%,這比我們通常預期的要強。這使它處於非常強勢的償還債務的位置。
Our View
我們的觀點
Happily, Lockheed Martin's impressive conversion of EBIT to free cash flow implies it has the upper hand on its debt. But, on a more sombre note, we are a little concerned by its EBIT growth rate. All these things considered, it appears that Lockheed Martin can comfortably handle its current debt levels. Of course, while this leverage can enhance returns on equity, it does bring more risk, so it's worth keeping an eye on this one. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. Be aware that Lockheed Martin is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...
洛克希德馬丁令人欽佩的EBIT轉換爲自由現金流,表明它在債務方面佔據上風。但值得注意的是,它的EBIT增長率讓我們有些擔憂。綜合考慮所有這些因素,洛克希德馬丁似乎能夠輕鬆應對目前的債務水平。當然,雖然這種槓桿可以提高股東回報率,但也帶來了更多風險,因此值得關注。在分析債務水平時,資產負債表是顯而易見的起點。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。請注意,在我們的投資分析中,洛克希德馬丁顯示了2個警示信號,你應該知道...。
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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