是JB亨特运输服务公司（纳斯达克股票代码：JBH）风险投资？

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' 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. We note that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

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When Is Debt A Problem?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. 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. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

How Much Debt Does J.B. Hunt Transport Services Carry?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of September 2025 J.B. Hunt Transport Services had US$1.60b of debt, an increase on US$1.53b, over one year. On the flip side, it has US$52.3m in cash leading to net debt of about US$1.55b.

How Strong Is J.B. Hunt Transport Services' Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, J.B. Hunt Transport Services had liabilities of US$1.93b due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$2.60b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had US$52.3m in cash and US$1.23b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$3.25b.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a very large market capitalization of US$15.8b, so it could very likely raise cash to ameliorate its balance sheet, if the need arose. But it's clear that we should definitely closely examine whether it can manage its debt without dilution.

We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services's net debt is only 0.99 times its EBITDA. And its EBIT easily covers its interest expense, being 11.3 times the size. So we're pretty relaxed about its super-conservative use of debt. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's EBIT was pretty flat over the last year, but that shouldn't be an issue given the it doesn't have a lot of debt. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if J.B. Hunt Transport Services can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.

Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So it's worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. In the last three years, J.B. Hunt Transport Services's free cash flow amounted to 36% of its EBIT, less than we'd expect. That's not great, when it comes to paying down debt.

Our View

On our analysis J.B. Hunt Transport Services's interest cover should signal that it won't have too much trouble with its debt. But the other factors we noted above weren't so encouraging. For example, its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow makes us a little nervous about its debt. Considering this range of data points, we think J.B. Hunt Transport Services is in a good position to manage its debt levels. But a word of caution: we think debt levels are high enough to justify ongoing monitoring. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. For example - J.B. Hunt Transport Services has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.