Anika Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ANIK) Seems To Use Debt Quite Sensibly

David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the permanent loss of capital.' When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. Importantly, Anika Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANIK) does carry debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free 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 usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for Anika Therapeutics

What Is Anika Therapeutics's Debt?

As you can see below, at the end of September 2020, Anika Therapeutics had US$25.0m of debt, up from none a year ago. Click the image for more detail. But it also has US$124.8m in cash to offset that, meaning it has US$99.8m net cash.

How Healthy Is Anika Therapeutics' Balance Sheet?

The latest balance sheet data shows that Anika Therapeutics had liabilities of US$31.1m due within a year, and liabilities of US$100.7m falling due after that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$124.8m as well as receivables valued at US$23.0m due within 12 months. So it can boast US$15.9m more liquid assets than total liabilities.

This surplus suggests that Anika Therapeutics has a conservative balance sheet, and could probably eliminate its debt without much difficulty. Simply put, the fact that Anika Therapeutics has more cash than debt is arguably a good indication that it can manage its debt safely.

In fact Anika Therapeutics's saving grace is its low debt levels, because its EBIT has tanked 72% in the last twelve months. 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 it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Anika Therapeutics's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. While Anika Therapeutics 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. Over the last three years, Anika Therapeutics actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT. There's nothing better than incoming cash when it comes to staying in your lenders' good graces.

Summing up

While we empathize with investors who find debt concerning, you should keep in mind that Anika Therapeutics has net cash of US$99.8m, as well as more liquid assets than liabilities. The cherry on top was that in converted 101% of that EBIT to free cash flow, bringing in US$22m. So we don't have any problem with Anika Therapeutics's use of debt. 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 Anika Therapeutics that you should be aware of before investing here.

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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