Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of permanent loss is the risk I worry about... and every practical investor I know worries about.' 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. We can see that Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ) does use debt in its business. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. 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. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

What Is Utz Brands's Net Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that Utz Brands had US$796.8m of debt in September 2024, down from US$882.5m, one year before. However, it does have US$64.9m in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about US$732.0m.

How Healthy Is Utz Brands' Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, Utz Brands had liabilities of US$285.4m due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$974.0m due beyond 12 months. On the other hand, it had cash of US$64.9m and US$137.5m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$1.06b.

While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since Utz Brands has a market capitalization of US$2.43b, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. But we definitely want to keep our eyes open to indications that its debt is bringing too much risk.

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). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

Weak interest cover of 1.1 times and a disturbingly high net debt to EBITDA ratio of 5.7 hit our confidence in Utz Brands like a one-two punch to the gut. This means we'd consider it to have a heavy debt load. Looking on the bright side, Utz Brands boosted its EBIT by a silky 65% in the last year. Like the milk of human kindness that sort of growth increases resilience, making the company more capable of managing debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Utz Brands'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.

Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. Over the last two years, Utz Brands recorded free cash flow worth a fulsome 86% of its EBIT, which is stronger than we'd usually expect. That positions it well to pay down debt if desirable to do so.

Our View

We weren't impressed with Utz Brands's net debt to EBITDA, and its interest cover made us cautious. But its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow was significantly redeeming. When we consider all the elements mentioned above, it seems to us that Utz Brands is managing its debt quite well. But a word of caution: we think debt levels are high enough to justify ongoing monitoring. 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. We've identified 1 warning sign with Utz Brands , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.