Is Xilinx Inc’s (NASDAQ:XLNX) Cash Outlook Optimistic?
If you are currently a shareholder in Xilinx Inc (NASDAQ:XLNX), or considering investing in the stock, you need to examine how the business generates cash, and how it is reinvested. What is left after investment, determines the value of the stock since this cash flow technically belongs to investors of the company. I will take you through XLNX’s cash flow health and the risk-return concept based on the stock’s cash flow yield, using the most recent financial data. This will help you think about the company from a cash perspective, which is a crucial factor to investing.
See our latest analysis for Xilinx
What is free cash flow?
Xilinx generates cash through its day-to-day business, which needs to be reinvested into the company in order for it to continue operating. What remains after this expenditure, is known as its free cash flow, or FCF, for short.
I will be analysing Xilinx’s FCF by looking at its FCF yield and its operating cash flow growth. The yield will tell us whether the stock is generating enough cash to compensate for the risk investors take on by holding a single stock, which I will compare to the market index. The growth will proxy for sustainability levels of this cash generation.
Free Cash Flow = Operating Cash Flows – Net Capital Expenditure
Free Cash Flow Yield = Free Cash Flow / Enterprise Value
where Enterprise Value = Market Capitalisation + Net Debt
Xilinx’s yield of 2.8% indicates its sub-standard capacity to generate cash, compared to the stock market index as a whole, accounting for the size differential. This means investors are taking on more concentrated risk on Xilinx but are not being adequately rewarded for doing so.
Does Xilinx have a favourable cash flow trend?
Can XLNX improve its operating cash production in the future? Let’s take a quick look at the cash flow trend the company is expected to deliver over time. In the next few years, the company is expected to grow its cash from operations at a double-digit rate of 27.3%, ramping up from its current levels of US$805.3m to US$1.03b in two years’ time. Although this seems impressive, breaking down into year-on-year growth rates, XLNX’s operating cash flow growth is expected to decline from a rate of 15.4% next year, to 10.3% in the following year. But the overall future outlook seems buoyant if XLNX can maintain its levels of capital expenditure as well.
Next Steps:
The company’s low yield relative to the market index means you are taking on more risk holding the single-stock Xilinx as opposed to the diversified market portfolio, and being compensated for less. Though the high operating cash flow growth in the future could change this. Now you know to keep cash flows in mind, I recommend you continue to research Xilinx to get a more holistic view of the company by looking at:
Valuation: What is XLNX worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether XLNX is currently mispriced by the market.
Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on Xilinx’s board and the CEO’s back ground.
Other High-Performing Stocks: If you believe you should cushion your portfolio with something less risky, scroll through our free list of these great stocks here.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
