A Look Into BEST's Debt

Shares of BEST BEST moved lower by 20.69% in the past three months. Before having a look at the importance of debt, let us look at how much debt BEST has.

BEST's Debt

According to the BEST's most recent balance sheet as reported on April 16, 2021, total debt is at $845.39 thousand, with $358.39 thousand in long-term debt and $487.00 thousand in current debt. Adjusting for $212.00 thousand in cash-equivalents, the company has a net debt of $633.39 thousand.

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.

Shareholders look at the debt-ratio to understand how much financial leverage a company has. BEST has $3.05 million in total assets, therefore making the debt-ratio 0.28. 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 35% might be higher for one industry and average for another.

Why Shareholders Look At 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, due to interest-payment obligations, cash-flow of a company can be impacted. Equity owners can keep excess profit, generated from the debt capital, when companies use the debt capital for its business operations.

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