Is Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) Using Too Much Debt?
Is Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) Using Too Much Debt?
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.' When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. We note that Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.
傳奇基金經理李露(由查理·芒格支持)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的資本損失。」當我們思考一家公司的風險有多大時,我們總是喜歡考慮其債務的用途,因爲債務過載可能導致破產。我們注意到,Landstar System, Inc.(納斯達克股票代碼:LSTR)的資產負債表上確實有債務。但真正的問題是這筆債務是否使公司面臨風險。
When Is Debt A Problem?
債務何時成爲問題?
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 usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. Of course, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.
當企業無法通過自由現金流或以誘人的價格籌集資金來輕鬆履行這些義務時,債務和其他負債就會成爲風險。如果情況變得非常糟糕,貸款人可以控制業務。但是,更常見(但仍然昂貴)的情況是,公司爲了控制債務,必須以低廉的股價稀釋股東。當然,許多公司使用債務爲增長提供資金,而不會產生任何負面影響。考慮公司的債務水平的第一步是同時考慮其現金和債務。
What Is Landstar System's Debt?
Landstar System 的債務是什麼?
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at September 2024 Landstar System had debt of US$50.7m, up from US$48.1m in one year. However, its balance sheet shows it holds US$531.3m in cash, so it actually has US$480.5m net cash.
你可以點擊下圖查看更多細節,該圖片顯示,截至2024年9月,Landstar System的債務爲5,070萬美元,高於一年內的4,810萬美元。但是,其資產負債表顯示其持有5.313億美元的現金,因此實際上擁有4.805億美元的淨現金。
A Look At Landstar System's Liabilities
看看 Landstar System 的負債
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Landstar System had liabilities of US$592.7m falling due within a year, and liabilities of US$148.7m due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of US$531.3m and US$746.2m worth of receivables due within a year. So it actually has US$536.1m more liquid assets than total liabilities.
我們可以從最新的資產負債表中看出,Landstar System的負債爲5.927億美元,一年後到期的負債爲1.487億美元。另一方面,它有一年內到期的現金爲5.313億美元,還有價值7.462億美元的應收賬款。因此,它的流動資產實際上比總負債多出5.361億美元。
This surplus suggests that Landstar System has a conservative balance sheet, and could probably eliminate its debt without much difficulty. Succinctly put, Landstar System boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!
這種盈餘表明Landstar System的資產負債表比較保守,可以毫不費力地消除債務。簡而言之,Landstar System擁有淨現金,因此可以公平地說,它沒有沉重的債務負擔!
The modesty of its debt load may become crucial for Landstar System if management cannot prevent a repeat of the 32% cut to EBIT over the last year. When a company sees its earnings tank, it can sometimes find its relationships with its lenders turn sour. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Landstar System 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.
如果管理層無法阻止去年削減32%的息稅前利潤,那麼適度的債務負擔對Landstar System來說可能變得至關重要。當一家公司看到盈利下降時,它有時會發現與貸款機構的關係惡化。在分析債務水平時,資產負債表是顯而易見的起點。但最終,該業務未來的盈利能力將決定Landstar System能否隨着時間的推移加強其資產負債表。因此,如果您專注於未來,可以查看這份顯示分析師利潤預測的免費報告。
But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. Landstar System may have net cash on the balance sheet, but it is still interesting to look at how well the business converts its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, because that will influence both its need for, and its capacity to manage debt. Over the last three years, Landstar System recorded free cash flow worth a fulsome 99% of its EBIT, which is stronger than we'd usually expect. That puts it in a very strong position to pay down debt.
但是我們最終的考慮因素也很重要,因爲公司無法用紙面利潤來償還債務;它需要冷硬現金。Landstar System的資產負債表上可能有淨現金,但研究該企業如何將其利息稅前收益(EBIT)轉換爲自由現金流仍然很有趣,因爲這將影響其對債務的需求和管理能力。在過去的三年中,Landstar System記錄的自由現金流相當於其息稅前利潤的99%,比我們通常預期的要強。這使其在償還債務方面處於非常有利的地位。
Summing Up
總結一下
While it is always sensible to investigate a company's debt, in this case Landstar System has US$480.5m in net cash and a decent-looking balance sheet. And it impressed us with free cash flow of US$281m, being 99% of its EBIT. So we don't have any problem with Landstar System's use of debt. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. These risks can be hard to spot. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Landstar System you should know about.
儘管調查公司的債務總是明智的,但在這種情況下,Landstar System的淨現金爲4.805億美元,資產負債表看起來不錯。它以2.81億美元的自由現金流給我們留下了深刻的印象,佔其息稅前利潤的99%。因此,我們對Landstar System使用債務沒有任何問題。資產負債表顯然是分析債務時需要關注的領域。但歸根結底,每家公司都可以控制資產負債表之外存在的風險。這些風險可能很難發現。每家公司都有它們,我們發現了一個你應該知道的Landstar System警告標誌。
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.
如果你有興趣投資能夠在沒有債務負擔的情況下增加利潤的企業,那麼請查看這份資產負債表上有淨現金的成長型企業的免費清單。
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Simply Wall ST 的這篇文章本質上是籠統的。我們僅使用公正的方法提供基於歷史數據和分析師預測的評論,我們的文章並非旨在提供財務建議。它不構成買入或賣出任何股票的建議,也沒有考慮到您的目標或財務狀況。我們的目標是爲您提供由基本數據驅動的長期重點分析。請注意,我們的分析可能不會考慮最新的價格敏感型公司公告或定性材料。華爾街只是沒有持有上述任何股票的頭寸。
譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。