Some say volatility, rather than debt, is the best way to think about risk as an investor, but Warren Buffett famously said that 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. As with many other companies Akso Health Group (NASDAQ:AHG) makes use of debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?
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Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.
The chart below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Akso Health Group had US$2.00m in debt in March 2025; about the same as the year before. However, its balance sheet shows it holds US$176.2m in cash, so it actually has US$174.2m net cash.
The latest balance sheet data shows that Akso Health Group had liabilities of US$13.8m due within a year, and liabilities of US$1.99m falling due after that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$176.2m as well as receivables valued at US$12.9m due within 12 months. So it can boast US$173.3m more liquid assets than total liabilities.
This excess liquidity suggests that Akso Health Group is taking a careful approach to debt. Given it has easily adequate short term liquidity, we don't think it will have any issues with its lenders. Succinctly put, Akso Health Group boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load! When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is Akso Health Group's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. So when considering debt, it's definitely worth looking at the earnings trend. Click here for an interactive snapshot.
Check out our latest analysis for Akso Health Group
Over 12 months, Akso Health Group reported revenue of US$15m, which is a gain of 512%, although it did not report any earnings before interest and tax. When it comes to revenue growth, that's like nailing the game winning 3-pointer!
While Akso Health Group lost money on an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) level, it actually generated positive free cash flow US$1.0m. So taking that on face value, and considering the net cash situation, we don't think that the stock is too risky in the near term. Keeping in mind its 512% revenue growth over the last year, we think there's a decent chance the company is on track. We'd see further strong growth as an optimistic indication. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. These risks can be hard to spot. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Akso Health Group (of which 2 are potentially serious!) you should know about.
When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.
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