Yahoo Finance We Think Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ:SIRI) Can Stay On Top Of Its Debt
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.' 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. We note that Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) does have debt on its balance sheet. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?
What Risk Does Debt Bring?
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. 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. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.
Check out our latest analysis for Sirius XM Holdings
What Is Sirius XM Holdings's Net Debt?
As you can see below, at the end of March 2019, Sirius XM Holdings had US$7.19b of debt, up from US$6.81b a year ago. Click the image for more detail. Net debt is about the same, since the it doesn't have much cash.
How Healthy Is Sirius XM Holdings's Balance Sheet?
Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Sirius XM Holdings had liabilities of US$3.21b due within 12 months and liabilities of US$7.87b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of US$62.0m and US$592.0m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$10.4b.
Sirius XM Holdings has a very large market capitalization of US$28.4b, 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.
In order to size up a company's debt relative to its earnings, we calculate its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) divided by its interest expense (its interest cover). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.
Sirius XM Holdings has a debt to EBITDA ratio of 3.3 and its EBIT covered its interest expense 5.3 times. This suggests that while the debt levels are significant, we'd stop short of calling them problematic. We saw Sirius XM Holdings grow its EBIT by 5.5% in the last twelve months. Whilst that hardly knocks our socks off it is a positive when it comes to debt. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Sirius XM Holdings 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.
Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. Over the last three years, Sirius XM Holdings recorded free cash flow worth a fulsome 91% of its EBIT, which is stronger than we'd usually expect. That puts it in a very strong position to pay down debt.
Our View
When it comes to the balance sheet, the standout positive for Sirius XM Holdings was the fact that it seems able to convert EBIT to free cash flow confidently. But the other factors we noted above weren't so encouraging. For example, its net debt to EBITDA makes us a little nervous about its debt. Considering this range of data points, we think Sirius XM Holdings is in a good position to manage its debt levels. But a word of caution: we think debt levels are high enough to justify ongoing monitoring. We'd be motivated to research the stock further if we found out that Sirius XM Holdings insiders have bought shares recently. If you would too, then you're in luck, since today we're sharing our list of reported insider transactions for free.
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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