Here's Why We're Watching Else Nutrition Holdings' (TSE:BABY) Cash Burn Situation

There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, although Amazon.com made losses for many years after listing, if you had bought and held the shares since 1999, you would have made a fortune. 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.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Else Nutrition Holdings (TSE:BABY) shareholders should 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. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.

See our latest analysis for Else Nutrition Holdings

When Might Else Nutrition Holdings Run Out Of Money?

A cash runway is defined as the length of time it would take a company to run out of money if it kept spending at its current rate of cash burn. As at September 2022, Else Nutrition Holdings had cash of CA$16m and no debt. In the last year, its cash burn was CA$18m. So it had a cash runway of approximately 11 months from September 2022. To be frank, this kind of short runway puts us on edge, as it indicates the company must reduce its cash burn significantly, or else raise cash imminently. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.

How Well Is Else Nutrition Holdings Growing?

Some investors might find it troubling that Else Nutrition Holdings is actually increasing its cash burn, which is up 11% in the last year. Having said that, it's revenue is up a very solid 84% in the last year, so there's plenty of reason to believe in the growth story. The company needs to keep up that growth, if it is to really please shareholders. We think it is growing rather well, upon reflection. 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 Else Nutrition Holdings Raise More Cash Easily?

Else Nutrition Holdings seems to be in a fairly good position, in terms of cash burn, but we still think it's worthwhile considering how easily it could raise more money if it wanted to. 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. 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.

Else Nutrition Holdings has a market capitalisation of CA$69m and burnt through CA$18m last year, which is 27% of the company's market value. That's not insignificant, and if the company had to sell enough shares to fund another year's growth at the current share price, you'd likely witness fairly costly dilution.

How Risky Is Else Nutrition Holdings' Cash Burn Situation?

On this analysis of Else Nutrition Holdings' cash burn, we think its revenue growth was reassuring, while its cash runway has us a bit worried. We don't think its cash burn is particularly problematic, but after considering the range of factors in this article, we do think shareholders should be monitoring how it changes over time. On another note, Else Nutrition Holdings has 5 warning signs (and 2 which are a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

Of course Else Nutrition Holdings 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.