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. As with many other companies Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG) makes use of debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

Debt is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. Ultimately, if the company can’t fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. 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. By replacing dilution, though, debt can be an extremely good tool for businesses that need capital to invest in growth at high rates of return. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.

What Is Entegris’s Net Debt?

As you can see below, Entegris had US$1.09b of debt, at April 2021, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. On the flip side, it has US$548.5m in cash leading to net debt of about US$537.7m.

How Healthy Is Entegris’ Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, Entegris had liabilities of US$266.3m due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$1.24b due beyond 12 months. On the other hand, it had cash of US$548.5m and US$282.6m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$674.0m.

Since publicly traded Entegris shares are worth a very impressive total of US$16.0b, 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.

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.

With net debt sitting at just 0.95 times EBITDA, Entegris is arguably pretty conservatively geared. And it boasts interest cover of 8.8 times, which is more than adequate. On top of that, Entegris grew its EBIT by 46% over the last twelve months, and that growth will make it easier to handle its debt. 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 Entegris’s ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So the logical step is to look at the proportion of that EBIT that is matched by actual free cash flow. Over the most recent three years, Entegris recorded free cash flow worth 76% of its EBIT, which is around normal, given free cash flow excludes interest and tax. This free cash flow puts the company in a good position to pay down debt, when appropriate.

Our View

Entegris’s EBIT growth rate suggests it can handle its debt as easily as Cristiano Ronaldo could score a goal against an under 14’s goalkeeper. And the good news does not stop there, as its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow also supports that impression! Overall, we don’t think Entegris is taking any bad risks, as its debt load seems modest. So we’re not worried about the use of a little leverage on the balance sheet. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt.