Stock Analysis

We Think Coveo Solutions (TSE:CVO) Can Easily Afford To Drive Business Growth

TSX:CVO
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Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. 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. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.

So, the natural question for Coveo Solutions (TSE:CVO) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of cash burn. 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). Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn.

View our latest analysis for Coveo Solutions

How Long Is Coveo Solutions' Cash Runway?

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. When Coveo Solutions last reported its balance sheet in June 2023, it had zero debt and cash worth US$201m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through US$7.9m. That means it had a cash runway of very many years as of June 2023. Importantly, though, analysts think that Coveo Solutions will reach cashflow breakeven before then. If that happens, then the length of its cash runway, today, would become a moot point. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.

debt-equity-history-analysis
TSX:CVO Debt to Equity History October 9th 2023

How Well Is Coveo Solutions Growing?

Happily, Coveo Solutions is travelling in the right direction when it comes to its cash burn, which is down 73% over the last year. And revenue is up 23% in that same period; also a good sign. It seems to be growing nicely. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.

How Hard Would It Be For Coveo Solutions To Raise More Cash For Growth?

We are certainly impressed with the progress Coveo Solutions 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. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive 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.

Coveo Solutions has a market capitalisation of US$809m and burnt through US$7.9m last year, which is 1.0% of the company's 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.

Is Coveo Solutions' Cash Burn A Worry?

It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Coveo Solutions is burning through its cash. In particular, we think its cash runway stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. Its revenue growth wasn't quite as good, but was still rather encouraging! It's clearly very positive to see that analysts are forecasting the company will break even fairly soon. After considering a range of factors in this article, we're pretty relaxed about its cash burn, since the company seems to be in a good position to continue to fund its growth. An in-depth examination of risks revealed 1 warning sign for Coveo Solutions that readers should think about before committing capital to this stock.

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. 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.