Is Chegg (NYSE:CHGG) A Risky Investment?
Is Chegg (NYSE:CHGG) 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.' 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. As with many other companies Chegg, Inc. (NYSE:CHGG) makes use of debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?
有些人認爲，作爲投資者，應該把波動性而不是債務視爲風險最好的方式，但禾倫·巴菲特（Warren Buffett）曾經說過，“波動性遠不等於風險。”當我們考慮一個公司有多大的風險時，我們始終喜歡看它的債務使用情況，因爲債務過載可能導致破產。與許多其他公司一樣，Chegg公司（紐交所代碼：CHGG）也在使用債務。但是這種債務是否令股東擔憂？
When Is Debt A Problem?
什麼時候負債才是一個問題？
Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. However, a more common (but still painful) scenario is that it has to raise new equity capital at a low price, thus permanently diluting shareholders. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.
債務可以幫助業務，直到業務無法償還債務時，無論是通過新的資本還是自由現金流。資本主義的一個重要過程是“創造性破壞”，其中銀行家無情地清算失敗的企業。然而，一個更常見（但仍然痛苦）的情況是它必須以低價募集新的股本，從而永久性地稀釋股東的利益。當然，債務可以成爲企業的重要工具，特別是對資本密集型企業而言。考慮公司的債務水平時的第一步是考慮其現金和債務的綜合情況。
What Is Chegg's Debt?
Chegg的債務是多少？
As you can see below, Chegg had US$600.4m of debt at March 2024, down from US$1.19b a year prior. However, it also had US$390.8m in cash, and so its net debt is US$209.6m.
如下所示，截至2024年3月，Chegg的債務爲6.004億美元，較去年同期的11.9億美元下降。但是，它還有3.908億美元的現金，因此其淨債務爲2.096億美元。
How Strong Is Chegg's Balance Sheet?
Chegg的資產負債表有多強？
The latest balance sheet data shows that Chegg had liabilities of US$505.2m due within a year, and liabilities of US$264.0m falling due after that. On the other hand, it had cash of US$390.8m and US$24.7m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$353.7m.
最新的資產負債表數據顯示，Chegg有5.052億美元的短期債務到期和2.64億美元的長期債務到期。另一方面，它有3.908億美元的現金和2.47億美元的應收賬款到期。因此，其負債超過了現金和（短期）應收賬款的總和353.7億美元。
When you consider that this deficiency exceeds the company's US$310.7m market capitalization, you might well be inclined to review the balance sheet intently. In the scenario where the company had to clean up its balance sheet quickly, it seems likely shareholders would suffer extensive dilution. 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 Chegg 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.
考慮到這個缺陷超過了公司的31.07億美元的市值，你可能會傾向於仔細審查資產負債表。在公司需要迅速清理資產負債表的情況下，股東可能會遭受廣泛稀釋的風險。毫無疑問，我們從資產負債表中了解債務的信息是最多的。但是，最終企業未來的盈利能力將決定Chegg是否能夠隨着時間的推移加強其資產負債表。因此，如果您想看看專業人士的意見，您可能會發現分析師利潤預測的這份免費報告很有趣。
Over 12 months, Chegg made a loss at the EBIT level, and saw its revenue drop to US$703m, which is a fall of 6.5%. We would much prefer see growth.
在12個月內，Chegg在EBIT水平上虧損，並看到其營收下降6.5％至7.03億美元。我們寧願看到增長。
Caveat Emptor
買方自負。
Over the last twelve months Chegg produced an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) loss. To be specific the EBIT loss came in at US$11m. When we look at that alongside the significant liabilities, we're not particularly confident about the company. We'd want to see some strong near-term improvements before getting too interested in the stock. But on the bright side the company actually produced a statutory profit of US$15m and free cash flow of US$132m. So one might argue that there's still a chance it can get things on the right track. 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. We've identified 3 warning signs with Chegg (at least 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
在過去的12個月中，Chegg創造了息稅前利潤（EBIT）的虧損。具體而言，EBIT虧損達到1100萬美元。當我們結合其巨額負債時，我們對公司並不特別信心滿滿。在對該公司的股票感興趣之前，我們需要看到一些強有力的短期改善。但是，好消息是，該公司實際上創造了1500萬美元的基本盈利和1.32億美元的自由現金流。因此，可以說尚有機會將其引上正軌。資產負債表顯然是分析債務的領域。然而，並不是所有的投資風險都存在於資產負債表中。我們已經確定了Chegg的3個警示信號（至少有一個使我們有點不舒服），了解它們應該成爲您投資過程的一部分。
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.
如果您有興趣投資能夠在不負債的情況下增長利潤的企業，請查看這份免費列表，其中列出了在資產負債表上擁有淨現金的成長型企業。
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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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譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。