Companies Like Winsome Resources (ASX:WR1) Can Afford To Invest In Growth

There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. 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, the natural question for Winsome Resources (ASX:WR1) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of cash burn. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.

Our analysis indicates that WR1 is potentially overvalued!

How Long Is Winsome Resources' Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is the amount of time it would take to burn through its cash reserves at its current cash burn rate. When Winsome Resources last reported its balance sheet in June 2022, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$13m. In the last year, its cash burn was AU$3.6m. So it had a cash runway of about 3.8 years from June 2022. A runway of this length affords the company the time and space it needs to develop the business. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.

Can Winsome Resources Raise More Cash Easily?

Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive 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).

Winsome Resources' cash burn of AU$3.6m is about 6.5% of its AU$54m market capitalisation. 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.

So, Should We Worry About Winsome Resources' Cash Burn?

Because Winsome Resources is an early stage company, we don't have a great deal of data on which to form an opinion of its cash burn. Certainly, we'd be more confident in the stock if it was generating operating revenue. Having said that, we can say that its cash runway was a real positive. Overall, we think its cash burn seems perfectly reasonable, and we are not concerned by it. Separately, we looked at different risks affecting the company and spotted 4 warning signs for Winsome Resources (of which 2 are a bit concerning!) you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, 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. 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.