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.' 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. As with many other companies CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) makes use of debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

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Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

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. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. 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. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

What Is CSX's Net Debt?

As you can see below, CSX had US$19.2b of debt, at March 2025, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. However, because it has a cash reserve of US$1.15b, its net debt is less, at about US$18.1b.

How Healthy Is CSX's Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that CSX had liabilities of US$3.42b due within 12 months and liabilities of US$27.6b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of US$1.15b and US$1.35b worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$28.5b.

While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since CSX has a huge market capitalization of US$52.3b, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. However, it is still worthwhile taking a close look at its ability to pay off debt.

See our latest analysis for CSX

In order to size up a company's debt relative to its earnings, we calculate its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) divided by its interest expense (its interest cover). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

CSX has a debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.7 and its EBIT covered its interest expense 6.9 times. This suggests that while the debt levels are significant, we'd stop short of calling them problematic. Unfortunately, CSX saw its EBIT slide 5.2% in the last twelve months. If earnings continue on that decline then managing that debt will be difficult like delivering hot soup on a unicycle. 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 CSX's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

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. During the last three years, CSX produced sturdy free cash flow equating to 54% of its EBIT, about what we'd expect. This free cash flow puts the company in a good position to pay down debt, when appropriate.

Our View

While CSX's EBIT growth rate does give us pause, its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow and interest cover suggest it can stay on top of its debt load. We think that CSX's debt does make it a bit risky, after considering the aforementioned data points together. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since leverage can boost returns on equity, but it is something to be aware of. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. Be aware that CSX is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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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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.