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.' So it might be obvious that you need to consider debt, when you think about how risky any given stock is, because too much debt can sink a company. We note that Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

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. 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. 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.

What Is Ziff Davis's Net Debt?

The chart below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Ziff Davis had US$1.00b in debt in March 2024; about the same as the year before. However, it also had US$751.2m in cash, and so its net debt is US$250.7m.

How Strong Is Ziff Davis' Balance Sheet?

The latest balance sheet data shows that Ziff Davis had liabilities of US$663.3m due within a year, and liabilities of US$1.16b falling due after that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$751.2m as well as receivables valued at US$446.9m due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$627.0m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

Ziff Davis has a market capitalization of US$2.60b, so it could very likely raise cash to ameliorate its balance sheet, if the need arose. However, it is still worthwhile taking a close look at its ability to pay off debt.

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.

Ziff Davis's net debt is only 0.58 times its EBITDA. And its EBIT covers its interest expense a whopping 11.5 times over. So we're pretty relaxed about its super-conservative use of debt. But the other side of the story is that Ziff Davis saw its EBIT decline by 9.4% over the last year. If earnings continue to decline at that rate the company may have increasing difficulty managing its debt load. 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 Ziff Davis 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.

Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So it's worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. Over the last three years, Ziff Davis 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.

Our View

Happily, Ziff Davis's impressive conversion of EBIT to free cash flow implies it has the upper hand on its debt. But truth be told we feel its EBIT growth rate does undermine this impression a bit. All these things considered, it appears that Ziff Davis can comfortably handle its current debt levels. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Ziff Davis you should be aware of.

When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.

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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.