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 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. As with many other companies Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX) makes use of debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

When Is Debt A Problem?

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. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. 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. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

What Is Louisiana-Pacific's Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Louisiana-Pacific had debt of US$347.0m at the end of June 2024, a reduction from US$377.0m over a year. However, it does have US$317.0m in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about US$30.0m.

How Strong Is Louisiana-Pacific's Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, Louisiana-Pacific had liabilities of US$261.0m due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$610.0m due beyond 12 months. On the other hand, it had cash of US$317.0m and US$161.0m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$393.0m.

Given Louisiana-Pacific has a market capitalization of US$7.53b, it's hard to believe these liabilities pose much threat. But there are sufficient liabilities that we would certainly recommend shareholders continue to monitor the balance sheet, going forward. Carrying virtually no net debt, Louisiana-Pacific has a very light debt load indeed.

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.

Louisiana-Pacific has barely any net debt, as demonstrated by its net debt to EBITDA ratio of only 0.042. Happily, it actually managed to receive more interest than it paid, over the last year. So there's no doubt this company can take on debt as easily as enthusiastic spray-tanners take on an orange hue. In addition to that, we're happy to report that Louisiana-Pacific has boosted its EBIT by 87%, thus reducing the spectre of future debt repayments. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Louisiana-Pacific'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, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. During the last three years, Louisiana-Pacific produced sturdy free cash flow equating to 55% of its EBIT, about what we'd expect. This free cash flow puts the company in a good position to pay down debt, when appropriate.

Our View

Happily, Louisiana-Pacific's impressive interest cover implies it has the upper hand on its debt. And the good news does not stop there, as its EBIT growth rate also supports that impression! Considering this range of factors, it seems to us that Louisiana-Pacific is quite prudent with its debt, and the risks seem well managed. So the balance sheet looks pretty healthy, to us. 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. Be aware that Louisiana-Pacific is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course, if you're the type of investor who prefers buying stocks without the burden of debt, then don't hesitate to discover our exclusive list of net cash growth stocks, today.

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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.