Is Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) A Risky Investment?

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.' 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. As with many other companies Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) makes use of debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

When Is Debt A Problem?

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 common (but still painful) scenario is that it has to raise new equity capital at a low price, thus permanently diluting shareholders. Of course, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

View our latest analysis for Amazon.com

What Is Amazon.com's Net Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of June 2021 Amazon.com had US$52.3b of debt, an increase on US$35.0b, over one year. But it also has US$89.9b in cash to offset that, meaning it has US$37.6b net cash.

How Healthy Is Amazon.com's Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Amazon.com had liabilities of US$117.8b due within 12 months and liabilities of US$127.7b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of US$89.9b and US$26.6b worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$129.1b.

Of course, Amazon.com has a titanic market capitalization of US$1.76t, so these liabilities are probably manageable. Having said that, it's clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse. Despite its noteworthy liabilities, Amazon.com boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!

On top of that, Amazon.com grew its EBIT by 77% over the last twelve months, and that growth will make it easier to handle its debt. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Amazon.com'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. While Amazon.com 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, Amazon.com recorded free cash flow worth a fulsome 91% of its EBIT, which is stronger than we'd usually expect. That puts it in a very strong position to pay down debt.

Summing up

While it is always sensible to look at a company's total liabilities, it is very reassuring that Amazon.com has US$37.6b in net cash. The cherry on top was that in converted 91% of that EBIT to free cash flow, bringing in US$7.1b. So is Amazon.com's debt a risk? It doesn't seem so to us. 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. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Amazon.com (including 1 which is concerning) .

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.
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