6920 · Lasertec

Will it survive?

• Can it pay its interest? 10236.9×
  Comfortable
  Operating income ¥122.8B ÷ interest expense ¥12M
  What this means

  Operating profit covers interest with the kind of margin Graham wanted for a defensive holding. Necessary, not sufficient, it says solvent, not cheap.

• How heavy is the debt, net of cash? +¥86.1B
  Net cash, debt-free
  Cash ¥86.1B − debt ¥0
  What this means

  Cash and short-term investments exceed every dollar of debt by ¥86.1B, on net the company owes nothing, and can act from strength when others can't. Net debt is the leverage figure that matters: the cash is already set against the debt. Strategic or illiquid investments aren't counted here.

• How long is cash tied up? —
  Not enough data
  What this means

  The filing data didn't include the inputs for this check.

Is it a good business?

• Return on invested capital —
  Not enough data
  Industry peers: median 21%
  What this means

  The filing data didn't include the inputs for this check.

• Owner-earnings margin 18%
  High through the cycle
  10-yr median margin, range -5%–37%; latest ¥75.8B = operating cash ¥77.9B − maintenance capex ¥2.1B
  Industry peers: median 36%
  What this means

  What an owner could take out without starving the business: operating cash less the maintenance capital it must spend to hold its position — Buffett's owner earnings. That's 30% of revenue this year, a 18% median across 10 years.

• Are earnings backed by cash? 0.92×
  Mostly cash-backed
  Cash from ops ¥77.9B ÷ net income ¥84.7B
  What this means

  How much of reported profit showed up as operating cash. Above 1× is reassuring; well below suggests earnings lean on accruals. One year is noisy, growth and working-capital swings distort it, and this is operating cash, not free cash. Watch the multi-year trend.

How is the cash used?

• Where do the earnings go? 32%
  Reinvests most of it
  Dividends + buybacks ¥24.5B ÷ Owner Earnings ¥75.8B
  What this means

  Of ¥75.8B Owner Earnings, ¥24.5B (32%) went back to shareholders, ¥24.5B dividends, ¥0 buybacks. Returning most of it is the mark of a mature business with little left to reinvest at a high return; reinvesting most could mean a long runway, or empire-building. The split doesn't say which; the return earned on it (see ROIC) does.

• Investing or harvesting? 0.45×
  Harvesting
  Capex ¥2.1B ÷ depreciation ¥4.7B
  What this means

  Descriptive, not a grade. Above ~1× means investing faster than assets wear out (growth, or, sustained for years, today's earnings carrying less depreciation than tomorrow's will). Below means spending less than it's wearing out (efficiency, or a melting asset base). The ratio won't tell you which; the filings will.

Durability & moat, 2016–2025

Whether the record’s returns held, and what the capital reinvested earned.

• Profitable years 10 of 10
  What this means

  Never lost money over the record, the earnings stability Graham insisted on.

• Operating margin 28% → 43% (3-yr avg ends)
  What this means

  Through the cycle the operating margin widened — about 28% early to 43% lately, median 35% — pricing power intact or improving.

• Reinvestment, incremental ROIC returns capital
  What this means

  The capital base barely grew: this business returns cash through dividends and buybacks rather than reinvesting. Judge it on the cash returned, not on compounding.

• Owner earnings growth +38%/yr
  What this means

  Owner earnings grew about 38% a year over the record.

• Worst year 2018 · 26.8% op. margin
  What this means

  Stayed profitable even in its hardest year, the resilience that survives recessions.

• Dividend record rising
  What this means

  Paid and raised the dividend across the record, the continuity Graham prized.