Does Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' 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, Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) does carry debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

When Is Debt Dangerous?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. 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. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

See our latest analysis for Bio-Techne

What Is Bio-Techne's Net Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Bio-Techne had debt of US$256.4m at the end of June 2022, a reduction from US$349.7m over a year. On the flip side, it has US$247.0m in cash leading to net debt of about US$9.36m.

How Strong Is Bio-Techne's Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, Bio-Techne had liabilities of US$176.0m due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$417.8m due beyond 12 months. On the other hand, it had cash of US$247.0m and US$194.5m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities total US$152.2m more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

This state of affairs indicates that Bio-Techne's balance sheet looks quite solid, as its total liabilities are just about equal to its liquid assets. So it's very unlikely that the US$13.6b company is short on cash, but still worth keeping an eye on the balance sheet. But either way, Bio-Techne has virtually no net debt, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!

We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.

With debt at a measly 0.026 times EBITDA and EBIT covering interest a whopping 28.5 times, it's clear that Bio-Techne is not a desperate borrower. So relative to past earnings, the debt load seems trivial. Another good sign is that Bio-Techne has been able to increase its EBIT by 22% in twelve months, making it easier to pay down debt. 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 Bio-Techne'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.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. Happily for any shareholders, Bio-Techne 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.

Our View

Happily, Bio-Techne's impressive interest cover implies it has the upper hand on its debt. And that's just the beginning of the good news since its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow is also very heartening. It looks Bio-Techne has no trouble standing on its own two feet, and it has no reason to fear its lenders. For investing nerds like us its balance sheet is almost charming. Over time, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, so if you're interested in Bio-Techne, you may well want to click here to check an interactive graph of its earnings per share history.

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.