Here's Why We're Not Too Worried About ImpediMed's (ASX:IPD) Cash Burn Situation

There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. 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 the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.

So should ImpediMed (ASX:IPD) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

View our latest analysis for ImpediMed

When Might ImpediMed Run Out Of Money?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. As at June 2022, ImpediMed had cash of AU$41m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was AU$21m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of approximately 23 months from June 2022. Importantly, analysts think that ImpediMed will reach cashflow breakeven in 2 years. So there's a very good chance it won't need more cash, when you consider the burn rate will be reducing in that period. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

How Well Is ImpediMed Growing?

At first glance it's a bit worrying to see that ImpediMed actually boosted its cash burn by 33%, year on year. The good news is that operating revenue increased by 26% in the last year, indicating that the business is gaining some traction. Considering the factors above, the company doesn’t fare badly when it comes to assessing how it is changing over time. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.

How Easily Can ImpediMed Raise Cash?

Even though it seems like ImpediMed is developing its business nicely, we still like to consider how easily it could raise more money to accelerate growth. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. One of the main advantages held by publicly listed companies is that they can sell shares to investors to raise cash and fund growth. By comparing a company's annual cash burn to its total market capitalisation, we can estimate roughly how many shares it would have to issue in order to run the company for another year (at the same burn rate).

ImpediMed has a market capitalisation of AU$107m and burnt through AU$21m last year, which is 20% of the company's market value. Given that situation, it's fair to say the company wouldn't have much trouble raising more cash for growth, but shareholders would be somewhat diluted.

How Risky Is ImpediMed's Cash Burn Situation?

Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought ImpediMed's revenue growth was relatively promising. Shareholders can take heart from the fact that analysts are forecasting it will reach breakeven. Considering all the factors discussed in this article, we're not overly concerned about the company's cash burn, although we do think shareholders should keep an eye on how it develops. An in-depth examination of risks revealed 3 warning signs for ImpediMed that readers should think about before committing capital to this stock.

Of course ImpediMed 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.

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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.