The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' So it might be obvious that you need to consider debt, when you think about how risky any given stock is, because too much debt can sink a company. Importantly, Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) does carry debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. 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. 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.

How Much Debt Does Keysight Technologies Carry?

As you can see below, Keysight Technologies had US$1.82b of debt, at January 2024, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. However, it does have US$1.75b in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about US$72.0m.

How Healthy Is Keysight Technologies' Balance Sheet?

The latest balance sheet data shows that Keysight Technologies had liabilities of US$2.12b due within a year, and liabilities of US$2.13b falling due after that. On the other hand, it had cash of US$1.75b and US$808.0m worth of receivables due within a year. So it has liabilities totalling US$1.69b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

Given Keysight Technologies has a humongous market capitalization of US$25.3b, it's hard to believe these liabilities pose much threat. But there are sufficient liabilities that we would certainly recommend shareholders continue to monitor the balance sheet, going forward. Carrying virtually no net debt, Keysight Technologies has a very light debt load indeed.

We use two main ratios to inform us about debt levels relative to earnings. The first is net debt divided by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), while the second is how many times its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) covers its interest expense (or its interest cover, for short). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio).

Keysight Technologies has barely any net debt, as demonstrated by its net debt to EBITDA ratio of only 0.048. Humorously, it actually received more in interest over the last twelve months than it had to pay. So there's no doubt this company can take on debt as easily as enthusiastic spray-tanners take on an orange hue. But the bad news is that Keysight Technologies has seen its EBIT plunge 10% in the last twelve months. We think hat kind of performance, if repeated frequently, could well lead to difficulties for the stock. 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 Keysight Technologies 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.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. During the last three years, Keysight Technologies generated free cash flow amounting to a very robust 86% of its EBIT, more than we'd expect. That puts it in a very strong position to pay down debt.

Our View

The good news is that Keysight Technologies's demonstrated ability to cover its interest expense with its EBIT delights us like a fluffy puppy does a toddler. But we must concede we find its EBIT growth rate has the opposite effect. Taking all this data into account, it seems to us that Keysight Technologies takes a pretty sensible approach to debt. While that brings some risk, it can also enhance returns for shareholders. We'd be motivated to research the stock further if we found out that Keysight Technologies 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.

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.

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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.