Is Shuttle (TWSE:2405) A Risky Investment?

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.' 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. Importantly, Shuttle Inc. (TWSE:2405) 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. 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. 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 examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.

Check out our latest analysis for Shuttle

What Is Shuttle's Debt?

As you can see below, Shuttle had NT$50.0m of debt, at March 2024, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. However, it does have NT$1.16b in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of NT$1.11b.

How Strong Is Shuttle's Balance Sheet?

The latest balance sheet data shows that Shuttle had liabilities of NT$498.4m due within a year, and liabilities of NT$190.7m falling due after that. Offsetting this, it had NT$1.16b in cash and NT$292.7m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it can boast NT$763.4m more liquid assets than total liabilities.

This short term liquidity is a sign that Shuttle could probably pay off its debt with ease, as its balance sheet is far from stretched. Succinctly put, Shuttle boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load! The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is Shuttle's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. So if you're keen to discover more about its earnings, it might be worth checking out this graph of its long term earnings trend.

Over 12 months, Shuttle saw its revenue hold pretty steady, and it did not report positive earnings before interest and tax. While that hardly impresses, its not too bad either.

So How Risky Is Shuttle?

Although Shuttle had an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) loss over the last twelve months, it made a statutory profit of NT$42m. So when you consider it has net cash, along with the statutory profit, the stock probably isn't as risky as it might seem, at least in the short term. With mediocre revenue growth in the last year, we're don't find the investment opportunity particularly compelling. 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, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Shuttle that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com