Archer-Daniels Midland's Debt Overview

Over the past three months, shares of Archer-Daniels Midland ADM increased by 22.31%. Before having a look at the importance of debt, let us look at how much debt Archer-Daniels Midland has.

Archer-Daniels Midland's Debt

According to the Archer-Daniels Midland's most recent financial statement as reported on February 18, 2021, total debt is at $9.93 billion, with $7.88 billion in long-term debt and $2.04 billion in current debt. Adjusting for $666.00 million in cash-equivalents, the company has a net debt of $9.26 billion.

Let's define some of the terms we used in the paragraph above. Current debt is the portion of a company's debt which is due within 1 year, while long-term debt is the portion due in more than 1 year. Cash equivalents include cash and any liquid securities with maturity periods of 90 days or less. Total debt equals current debt plus long-term debt minus cash equivalents.

To understand the degree of financial leverage a company has, investors look at the debt ratio. Considering Archer-Daniels Midland's $49.72 billion in total assets, the debt-ratio is at 0.2. As a rule of thumb, a debt-ratio more than one indicates that a considerable portion of debt is funded by assets. A higher debt-ratio can also imply that the company might be putting itself at risk for default, if interest rates were to increase. However, debt-ratios vary widely across different industries. A debt ratio of 40% might be higher for one industry and average for another.

Importance Of Debt

Besides equity, debt is an important factor in the capital structure of a company, and contributes to its growth. Due to its lower financing cost compared to equity, it becomes an attractive option for executives trying to raise capital.

However, interest-payment obligations can have an adverse impact on the cash-flow of the company. Having financial leverage also allows companies to use additional capital for business operations, allowing equity owners to retain excess profit, generated by the debt capital.

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