The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a 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 Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) makes use of debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

When Is Debt Dangerous?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. 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. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

What Is Snap-on's Debt?

The chart below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Snap-on had US$1.20b in debt in June 2025; about the same as the year before. But on the other hand it also has US$1.46b in cash, leading to a US$254.6m net cash position.

A Look At Snap-on's Liabilities

The latest balance sheet data shows that Snap-on had liabilities of US$941.5m due within a year, and liabilities of US$1.52b falling due after that. Offsetting this, it had US$1.46b in cash and US$846.3m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total US$157.7m more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

This state of affairs indicates that Snap-on's balance sheet looks quite solid, as its total liabilities are just about equal to its liquid assets. So it's very unlikely that the US$18.1b company is short on cash, but still worth keeping an eye on the balance sheet. While it does have liabilities worth noting, Snap-on also has more cash than debt, so we're pretty confident it can manage its debt safely.

On the other hand, Snap-on saw its EBIT drop by 8.5% in the last twelve months. If earnings continue to decline at that rate the company may have increasing difficulty managing its debt load. 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 Snap-on's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward.

Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. Snap-on may have net cash on the balance sheet, but it is still interesting to look at how well the business converts its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, because that will influence both its need for, and its capacity to manage debt. During the last three years, Snap-on produced sturdy free cash flow equating to 75% of its EBIT, about what we'd expect. This cold hard cash means it can reduce its debt when it wants to.

Summing Up

While it is always sensible to look at a company's total liabilities, it is very reassuring that Snap-on has US$254.6m in net cash. And it impressed us with free cash flow of US$1.0b, being 75% of its EBIT. So is Snap-on's debt a risk? It doesn't seem so to us. Above most other metrics, we think its important to track how fast earnings per share is growing, if at all. If you've also come to that realization, you're in luck, because today you can view this interactive graph of Snap-on's earnings per share history for free.

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.

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.