Does Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' 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, Barrick Gold Corporation (TSE:ABX) does carry debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

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. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. 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.

Our analysis indicates that ABX is potentially undervalued!

What Is Barrick Gold's Net Debt?

As you can see below, Barrick Gold had US$5.03b of debt, at September 2022, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. But on the other hand it also has US$5.24b in cash, leading to a US$212.0m net cash position.

How Strong Is Barrick Gold's Balance Sheet?

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Barrick Gold had liabilities of US$2.19b falling due within a year, and liabilities of US$11.9b due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had US$5.24b in cash and US$499.0m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$8.40b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

This deficit isn't so bad because Barrick Gold is worth a massive US$29.6b, and thus could probably raise enough capital to shore up its balance sheet, if the need arose. But we definitely want to keep our eyes open to indications that its debt is bringing too much risk. While it does have liabilities worth noting, Barrick Gold also has more cash than debt, so we're pretty confident it can manage its debt safely.

On the other hand, Barrick Gold's EBIT dived 19%, over the last year. If that rate of decline in earnings continues, the company could find itself in a tight spot. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Barrick Gold's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. Barrick Gold may have net cash on the balance sheet, but it is still interesting to look at how well the business converts its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, because that will influence both its need for, and its capacity to manage debt. Looking at the most recent three years, Barrick Gold recorded free cash flow of 47% of its EBIT, which is weaker than we'd expect. That's not great, when it comes to paying down debt.

Summing Up

While Barrick Gold does have more liabilities than liquid assets, it also has net cash of US$212.0m. So we don't have any problem with Barrick Gold's use of debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. These risks can be hard to spot. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Barrick Gold you should know about.

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.

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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.