Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Takes On Some Risk With Its Use Of Debt
Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Takes On Some Risk With Its Use Of Debt
Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of permanent loss is the risk I worry about... and every practical investor I know worries about.' 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. Importantly, Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) does carry debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?
霍华德·马克斯说得好，他说的不是担心股价的波动，而是 “永久损失的可能性是我担心的风险... 也是我认识的每位实际投资者所担心的风险。”因此，很明显，当你考虑任何给定股票的风险时，你需要考虑债务，因为过多的债务会使公司陷入困境。重要的是，Cars.com公司（纽约证券交易所代码：CARS）确实有债务。但是，股东是否应该担心其债务的使用？
Why Does Debt Bring Risk?
为什么债务会带来风险？
Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. 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, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.
债务为企业提供帮助，直到企业难以用新的资本或自由现金流还清债务。如果情况变得非常糟糕，贷款人可以控制业务。但是，更频繁（但仍然代价高昂）的情况是，公司必须以低廉的价格发行股票，永久稀释股东，以支撑其资产负债表。当然，许多公司使用债务为增长提供资金，而不会产生任何负面后果。在考虑企业使用多少债务时，要做的第一件事是将其现金和债务放在一起考虑。
What Is Cars.com's Net Debt?
Cars.com的净负债是多少？
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at March 2024 Cars.com had debt of US$473.8m, up from US$454.2m in one year. However, it also had US$31.4m in cash, and so its net debt is US$442.4m.
您可以点击下图查看更多详情，该图片显示，截至2024年3月，Cars.com的债务为4.738亿美元，高于一年的4.542亿美元。但是，它也有3140万美元的现金，因此其净负债为4.424亿美元。
A Look At Cars.com's Liabilities
看看Cars.com的负债
According to the last reported balance sheet, Cars.com had liabilities of US$109.4m due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$552.3m due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had US$31.4m in cash and US$125.7m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$504.6m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.
根据上次报告的资产负债表，Cars.com在12个月内到期的负债为1.094亿美元，12个月以后到期的负债为5.523亿美元。与此相抵消的是，它有3140万美元的现金和1.257亿美元的应收账款将在12个月内到期。因此，它的负债总额比其现金和短期应收账款的总和多出5.046亿美元。
Cars.com has a market capitalization of US$1.13b, so it could very likely raise cash to ameliorate its balance sheet, if the need arose. But it's clear that we should definitely closely examine whether it can manage its debt without dilution.
Cars.com的市值为11.3亿美元，因此，如果需要，它很可能会筹集资金以改善其资产负债表。但很明显，我们一定要仔细研究它能否在不稀释的情况下管理债务。
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). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.
我们通过以下方法来衡量公司的债务负担与其盈利能力：将其净负债除以利息、税项、折旧和摊销前的收益（EBITDA），并计算其利息和税前收益（EBIT）支付利息支出（利息保障）的难易程度。这样，我们既考虑债务的绝对数量，也考虑为债务支付的利率。
While we wouldn't worry about Cars.com's net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.8, we think its super-low interest cover of 1.7 times is a sign of high leverage. It seems that the business incurs large depreciation and amortisation charges, so maybe its debt load is heavier than it would first appear, since EBITDA is arguably a generous measure of earnings. It seems clear that the cost of borrowing money is negatively impacting returns for shareholders, of late. Investors should also be troubled by the fact that Cars.com saw its EBIT drop by 18% over the last twelve months. If that's the way things keep going handling the debt load will be like delivering hot coffees on a pogo stick. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Cars.com 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.
虽然我们不担心Cars.com的净负债与息税折旧摊销前利润的比率为2.8，但我们认为其1.7倍的超低利息覆盖率是高杠杆率的标志。看来该企业会产生巨额折旧和摊销费用，因此其债务负担可能比最初出现的要重，因为息税折旧摊销前利润可以说是衡量收益的丰厚指标。看来很明显，借钱成本最近对股东的回报产生了负面影响。投资者也应该对Cars.com的息税前利润在过去十二个月中下降了18％这一事实感到困扰。如果事情是这样继续下去，那么处理债务负担就像用弹簧棒送热咖啡一样。在分析债务水平时，资产负债表是显而易见的起点。但最终，该业务的未来盈利能力将决定Cars.com能否随着时间的推移加强其资产负债表。因此，如果你想看看专业人士的想法，你可能会发现这份关于分析师利润预测的免费报告很有趣。
Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. Happily for any shareholders, Cars.com actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last three years. That sort of strong cash conversion gets us as excited as the crowd when the beat drops at a Daft Punk concert.
最后，企业需要自由现金流来偿还债务；会计利润根本无法减少债务。因此，我们显然需要研究息税前利润是否会带来相应的自由现金流。令所有股东感到高兴的是，在过去三年中，Cars.com产生的自由现金流实际上超过了息税前利润。当Daft Punk音乐会的节拍下降时，这种强劲的现金转换让我们和观众一样兴奋。
Our View
我们的观点
Cars.com's EBIT growth rate and interest cover definitely weigh on it, in our esteem. But its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow tells a very different story, and suggests some resilience. Taking the abovementioned factors together we do think Cars.com's debt poses some risks to the business. So while that leverage does boost returns on equity, we wouldn't really want to see it increase from here. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Cars.com (including 1 which is a bit unpleasant) .
在我们看来，Cars.com的息税前利润增长率和利息保障无疑给它带来了压力。但是它将息税前利润转换为自由现金流却讲述了一个截然不同的故事，也表明了一定的弹性。综合上述因素，我们确实认为Cars.com的债务对业务构成了一些风险。因此，尽管这种杠杆率确实提高了股本回报率，但我们真的不希望看到它从现在开始增加。在分析债务水平时，资产负债表是显而易见的起点。但是，并非所有的投资风险都存在于资产负债表中，远非如此。为此，你应该了解我们在Cars.com上发现的3个警告信号（其中一个有点不愉快）。
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.
当然，如果你是那种喜欢在没有债务负担的情况下购买股票的投资者，那么请立即查看我们的独家净现金增长股票清单。
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Simply Wall St的这篇文章本质上是笼统的。我们仅使用公正的方法根据历史数据和分析师的预测提供评论，我们的文章无意作为财务建议。它不构成买入或卖出任何股票的建议，也没有考虑到您的目标或财务状况。我们的目标是为您提供由基本数据驱动的长期重点分析。请注意，我们的分析可能不考虑最新的价格敏感型公司公告或定性材料。简而言之，华尔街没有持有任何上述股票的头寸。
译文内容由第三方软件翻译。