Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you’d have done very well indeed. But while the successes are well known, investors should not ignore the very many unprofitable companies that simply burn through all their cash and collapse.
So should Biomerica (NASDAQ:BMRA) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? For the purpose of this article, we’ll define cash burn as the amount of cash the company is spending each year to fund its growth (also called its negative free cash flow). First, we’ll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.
See our latest analysis for Biomerica
Does Biomerica Have A Long Cash Runway?
You can calculate a company’s cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. As at August 2019, Biomerica had cash of US$808k and no debt. In the last year, its cash burn was US$1.6m. So it had a cash runway of approximately 6 months from August 2019. Notably, one analyst forecasts that Biomerica will break even (at a free cash flow level) in about 2 years. That means unless the company reduces its cash burn quickly, it may well look to raise more cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.
How Well Is Biomerica Growing?
On balance, we think it’s mildly positive that Biomerica trimmed its cash burn by 18% over the last twelve months. Unfortunately, however, operating revenue declined by 5.0% during the period. Considering both these factors, we’re not particularly excited by its growth profile. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.
Can Biomerica Raise More Cash Easily?
Since Biomerica revenue has been falling, the market will likely be considering how it can raise more cash if need be. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash to drive growth. We can compare a company’s cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year’s operations.
Since it has a market capitalisation of US$27m, Biomerica’s US$1.6m in cash burn equates to about 6.1% of its market value. Given that is a rather small percentage, it would probably be really easy for the company to fund another year’s growth by issuing some new shares to investors, or even by taking out a loan.
How Risky Is Biomerica’s Cash Burn Situation?
Even though its cash runway makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought Biomerica’s cash burn relative to its market cap was relatively promising. One real positive is that at least one analyst is forecasting that the company will reach breakeven. While we’re the kind of investors who are always a bit concerned about the risks involved with cash burning companies, the metrics we have discussed in this article leave us relatively comfortable about Biomerica’s situation. While we always like to monitor cash burn for early stage companies, qualitative factors such as the CEO pay can also shed light on the situation. Click here to see free what the Biomerica CEO is paid..
Of course Biomerica may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
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