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Does Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

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.' 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 Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT) makes use of debt. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

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. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. 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.

See our latest analysis for Spotify Technology

How Much Debt Does Spotify Technology Carry?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at September 2021 Spotify Technology had debt of €1.18b, up from none in one year. But on the other hand it also has €3.17b in cash, leading to a €2.00b net cash position.

debt-equity-history-analysis
debt-equity-history-analysis

How Healthy Is Spotify Technology's Balance Sheet?

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Spotify Technology had liabilities of €3.08b falling due within a year, and liabilities of €1.80b due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had €3.17b in cash and €576.0m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by €1.13b.

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Since publicly traded Spotify Technology shares are worth a very impressive total of €40.3b, it seems unlikely that this level of liabilities would be a major threat. However, we do think it is worth keeping an eye on its balance sheet strength, as it may change over time. Despite its noteworthy liabilities, Spotify Technology boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!

Notably, Spotify Technology made a loss at the EBIT level, last year, but improved that to positive EBIT of €45m in the last twelve months. 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 Spotify Technology'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. While Spotify Technology has net cash on its balance sheet, it's still worth taking a look at its ability to convert earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, to help us understand how quickly it is building (or eroding) that cash balance. Happily for any shareholders, Spotify Technology actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last year. That sort of strong cash conversion gets us as excited as the crowd when the beat drops at a Daft Punk concert.

Summing up

We could understand if investors are concerned about Spotify Technology's liabilities, but we can be reassured by the fact it has has net cash of €2.00b. And it impressed us with free cash flow of €245m, being 544% of its EBIT. So we don't have any problem with Spotify Technology's use of debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Spotify Technology .

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.