Yahoo Finance Does Hello Group (NASDAQ:MOMO) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?
Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' So it seems the smart money knows that debt - which is usually involved in bankruptcies - is a very important factor, when you assess how risky a company is. Importantly, Hello Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MOMO) does carry debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.
Why Does Debt Bring Risk?
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. 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, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.
View our latest analysis for Hello Group
What Is Hello Group's Net Debt?
As you can see below, Hello Group had CN¥4.57b of debt, at December 2021, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. However, its balance sheet shows it holds CN¥8.43b in cash, so it actually has CN¥3.87b net cash.
How Healthy Is Hello Group's Balance Sheet?
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Hello Group had liabilities of CN¥2.52b falling due within a year, and liabilities of CN¥5.01b due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of CN¥8.43b as well as receivables valued at CN¥481.5m due within 12 months. So it can boast CN¥1.39b more liquid assets than total liabilities.
This excess liquidity suggests that Hello Group is taking a careful approach to debt. Due to its strong net asset position, it is not likely to face issues with its lenders. Succinctly put, Hello Group boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!
It is just as well that Hello Group's load is not too heavy, because its EBIT was down 21% over the last year. Falling earnings (if the trend continues) could eventually make even modest debt quite risky. 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 Hello Group 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.
Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. While Hello Group 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, Hello Group actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last three years. That sort of strong cash generation warms our hearts like a puppy in a bumblebee suit.
Summing up
While we empathize with investors who find debt concerning, you should keep in mind that Hello Group has net cash of CN¥3.87b, as well as more liquid assets than liabilities. And it impressed us with free cash flow of CN¥1.5b, being 120% of its EBIT. So is Hello Group's debt a risk? It doesn't seem so to us. 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. For example - Hello Group has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.
At the end of the day, it's often better to focus on companies that are free from net debt. You can access our special list of such companies (all with a track record of profit growth). It's free.
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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.
