Is BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) A Risky Investment?
Is BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) A Risky Investment?
Some say volatility, rather than debt, is the best way to think about risk as an investor, but Warren Buffett famously said that 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' 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. As with many other companies BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL) makes use of debt. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?
有人認爲,投資者應該將波動性而不是債務視爲風險的最佳方式,但禾倫·巴菲特曾經說過:'波動性遠非風險的同義詞。'因此,明智之人似乎知道,債務(通常與破產有關)是評估一家公司風險程度時非常重要的因素。與許多其他公司一樣,BlackLine股份有限公司(納斯達克:BL)利用了債務。但更重要的問題是:這些債務造成了多大的風險?
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. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. 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. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.
債務是幫助企業成長的工具,但如果一個企業無力償還借款人的債務,那麼該企業就將處在債權人的掌控下。最終,如果公司無法履行償還債務的法律義務,股東可能會一無所獲。然而,一種更常見(但仍然代價高昂)的情況是,公司必須以低廉的價格發行股票,從而永久地稀釋股東的權益,以支持其資產負債表。當然,債務可以是企業的重要工具,特別是對於資本密集型的企業而言。在考慮企業使用多少債務時,首先要做的是查看其現金和債務的總和。
How Much Debt Does BlackLine Carry?
BlackLine承擔了多少債務?
As you can see below, BlackLine had US$1.14b of debt at June 2024, down from US$1.39b a year prior. However, it does have US$1.05b in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about US$95.8m.
如下所示,截至2024年6月,BlackLine的債務爲11.4億美元,較前一年的13.9億美元有所減少。然而,它擁有10.5億美元的現金來抵消這筆債務,導致淨債務約爲9580萬美元。
How Healthy Is BlackLine's Balance Sheet?
黑線財務狀況有多健康?
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that BlackLine had liabilities of US$619.7m falling due within a year, and liabilities of US$913.2m due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of US$1.05b and US$137.4m worth of receivables due within a year. So it has liabilities totalling US$350.3m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.
從最近的資產負債表中我們可以看到,黑線有6170萬美元的到期負債,以及91320萬美元的長期到期負債。另一方面,它有10.5億美元的現金和13740萬美元的短期應收款。因此,其負債總計超過現金和短期應收款合計35030萬美元。
Of course, BlackLine has a market capitalization of US$3.45b, so these liabilities are probably manageable. However, we do think it is worth keeping an eye on its balance sheet strength, as it may change over time.
當然,黑線的市值爲34.5億美元,所以這些負債可能是可控的。然而,我們認爲值得關注它的資產負債表強度,因爲它可能會隨時間改變。
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). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.
爲了比較一個公司的債務與其收益的關係,我們計算其淨債務除以利息、稅、折舊和攤銷前的收益和利息前的收益(其利息覆蓋率)。因此,我們考慮了債務的絕對數量以及支付的利率。
BlackLine's net debt to EBITDA ratio of about 2.0 suggests only moderate use of debt. And its commanding EBIT of 1k times its interest expense, implies the debt load is as light as a peacock feather. Notably, BlackLine made a loss at the EBIT level, last year, but improved that to positive EBIT of US$16m in the last twelve months. 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 BlackLine 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.
黑線的淨債務與息稅折舊攤銷前利潤(EBITDA)比約爲2.0,暗示其僅適度使用債務。而其EBIT是利息支出的0.1倍,表明債務負擔輕如孔雀羽毛。值得注意的是,黑線在上一年度的EBIT水平上虧損,但在過去十二個月取得了1600萬美元的正面EBIT。毫無疑問,我們從資產負債表中了解到最多關於債務。但最終業務未來的盈利能力將決定黑線是否能夠長期加強其資產負債表。因此,如果您專注於未來,可以查看這份展示分析師利潤預測的免費報告。
Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So it is important to check how much of its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) converts to actual free cash flow. Over the last year, BlackLine actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT. That sort of strong cash generation warms our hearts like a puppy in a bumblebee suit.
最後,公司只能用冰冷的現金償還債務,而不是會計利潤。因此,檢查在息稅前利潤(EBIT)轉化爲實際自由現金流的比例非常重要。在過去一年中,黑線實際產生的自由現金流高於EBIT。這種強勁的現金產生讓我們像穿蜜蜂服裝的小狗一樣感到溫暖。
Our View
我們的觀點
The good news is that BlackLine's demonstrated ability to cover its interest expense with its EBIT delights us like a fluffy puppy does a toddler. And the good news does not stop there, as its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow also supports that impression! Taking all this data into account, it seems to us that BlackLine takes a pretty sensible approach to debt. That means they are taking on a bit more risk, in the hope of boosting shareholder returns. 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. Be aware that BlackLine is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is a bit unpleasant...
BlackLine的好消息是,它展示了用EBIt收益覆蓋利息支出的能力,讓我們像小孩子看到毛絨玩具狗一樣高興。而好消息並不止於此,因爲它將EBIt轉化爲自由現金流,也支持這一印象!綜合考慮所有這些數據,我們認爲BlackLine 在處理債務時採取了相當明智的方式。這意味着他們在承擔一些更大的風險,希望提高股東回報。當你分析債務時,資產負債表顯然是需要關注的區域。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,BlackLine顯示出了三個警示信號,其中一個有些不太愉快...
At the end of the day, it's often better to focus on companies that are free from net debt. You can access our special list of such companies (all with a track record of profit growth). It's free.
歸根結底,專注於沒有淨債務的公司往往更好。您可以訪問我們的特別列表,其中包括所有表現出盈利增長軌跡的公司。這是免費的。
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這篇文章是Simply Wall St的一般性文章。我們根據歷史數據和分析師預測提供評論,只使用公正的方法論,我們的文章並不意味着提供任何金融建議。文章不構成買賣任何股票的建議,也不考慮您的目標或您的財務狀況。我們的目標是帶給您基本數據驅動的長期關注分析。請注意,我們的分析可能不考慮最新的價格敏感公司公告或定性材料。Simply Wall St沒有任何股票頭寸。
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