Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' It's only natural to consider a company's balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often involved when a business collapses. Importantly, PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) does carry debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

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. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. 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 step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

What Is PBF Energy's Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that PBF Energy had US$1.25b of debt in December 2023, down from US$1.96b, one year before. But on the other hand it also has US$1.78b in cash, leading to a US$537.6m net cash position.

How Healthy Is PBF Energy's Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, PBF Energy had liabilities of US$4.22b due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$3.54b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had US$1.78b in cash and US$1.33b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total US$4.64b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

This is a mountain of leverage relative to its market capitalization of US$6.92b. This suggests shareholders would be heavily diluted if the company needed to shore up its balance sheet in a hurry. While it does have liabilities worth noting, PBF Energy also has more cash than debt, so we're pretty confident it can manage its debt safely.

It is just as well that PBF Energy's load is not too heavy, because its EBIT was down 52% over the last year. Falling earnings (if the trend continues) could eventually make even modest debt quite risky. 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 PBF Energy'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. PBF Energy 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. During the last two years, PBF Energy produced sturdy free cash flow equating to 77% of its EBIT, about what we'd expect. This cold hard cash means it can reduce its debt when it wants to.

Summing Up

Although PBF Energy's balance sheet isn't particularly strong, due to the total liabilities, it is clearly positive to see that it has net cash of US$537.6m. And it impressed us with free cash flow of US$679m, being 77% of its EBIT. So we don't have any problem with PBF Energy's use of debt. 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. These risks can be hard to spot. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for PBF Energy (of which 2 make us uncomfortable!) you should know about.

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.