We're Hopeful That Ionic Rare Earths (ASX:IXR) Will Use Its Cash Wisely

Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. Indeed, Ionic Rare Earths (ASX:IXR) stock is up 238% in the last year, providing strong gains for shareholders. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.

So notwithstanding the buoyant share price, we think it's well worth asking whether Ionic Rare Earths' cash burn is too risky. 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Ionic Rare Earths

Does Ionic Rare Earths Have A Long Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. When Ionic Rare Earths last reported its balance sheet in December 2020, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$2.3m. Importantly, its cash burn was AU$1.3m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of approximately 21 months from December 2020. While that cash runway isn't too concerning, sensible holders would be peering into the distance, and considering what happens if the company runs out of cash. We should note, however, that if we extrapolate recent trends in its cash burn, then its cash runway would get a lot longer. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

How Is Ionic Rare Earths' Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

While Ionic Rare Earths did record statutory revenue of AU$424 over the last year, it didn't have any revenue from operations. That means we consider it a pre-revenue business, and we will focus our growth analysis on cash burn, for now. As it happens, the company's cash burn reduced by 5.6% over the last year, which suggests that management are maintaining a fairly steady rate of business development, albeit with a slight decrease in spending. Admittedly, we're a bit cautious of Ionic Rare Earths due to its lack of significant operating revenues. So we'd generally prefer stocks from this list of stocks that have analysts forecasting growth.

How Hard Would It Be For Ionic Rare Earths To Raise More Cash For Growth?

While Ionic Rare Earths is showing a solid reduction in its cash burn, it's still worth considering how easily it could raise more cash, even just to fuel faster 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 looking at a company's cash burn relative to its market capitalisation, we gain insight on how much shareholders would be diluted if the company needed to raise enough cash to cover another year's cash burn.

Since it has a market capitalisation of AU$87m, Ionic Rare Earths' AU$1.3m in cash burn equates to about 1.5% of its market value. So it could almost certainly just borrow a little to fund another year's growth, or else easily raise the cash by issuing a few shares.

How Risky Is Ionic Rare Earths' Cash Burn Situation?

It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Ionic Rare Earths is burning through its cash. For example, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap suggests that the company is on a good path. Its weak point is its cash burn reduction, but even that wasn't too bad! Based on the factors mentioned in this article, we think its cash burn situation warrants some attention from shareholders, but we don't think they should be worried. On another note, we conducted an in-depth investigation of the company, and identified 5 warning signs for Ionic Rare Earths (2 don't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

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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. 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.
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