We're Not Very Worried About Draganfly's (CSE:DPRO) Cash Burn Rate

Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. Indeed, Draganfly (CSE:DPRO) stock is up 149% in the last year, providing strong gains for shareholders. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.

In light of its strong share price run, we think now is a good time to investigate how risky Draganfly's cash burn is. 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'.

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How Long Is Draganfly's Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. As at September 2025, Draganfly had cash of CA$71m and no debt. In the last year, its cash burn was CA$17m. Therefore, from September 2025 it had 4.2 years of cash runway. A runway of this length affords the company the time and space it needs to develop the business. Importantly, if we extrapolate recent cash burn trends, the cash runway would be noticeably longer. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

Check out our latest analysis for Draganfly

How Well Is Draganfly Growing?

Some investors might find it troubling that Draganfly is actually increasing its cash burn, which is up 29% in the last year. The good news is that operating revenue increased by 27% 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. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.

Can Draganfly Raise More Cash Easily?

We are certainly impressed with the progress Draganfly has made over the last year, but it is also worth considering how costly it would be if it wanted to raise more cash to fund 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 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).

Draganfly has a market capitalisation of CA$245m and burnt through CA$17m last year, which is 6.9% of the company's market value. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.

How Risky Is Draganfly's Cash Burn Situation?

It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Draganfly is burning through its cash. For example, we think its cash runway suggests that the company is on a good path. While its increasing cash burn wasn't great, the other factors mentioned in this article more than make up for weakness on that measure. After taking into account the various metrics mentioned in this report, we're pretty comfortable with how the company is spending its cash, as it seems on track to meet its needs over the medium term. Taking a deeper dive, we've spotted 3 warning signs for Draganfly you should be aware of, and 1 of them doesn't sit too well with us.

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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.