Is GetSwift Technologies (FRA:8DQ) In A Good Position To Invest In Growth?

Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether GetSwift Technologies (FRA:8DQ) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.

See our latest analysis for GetSwift Technologies

Does GetSwift Technologies Have A Long 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. As at March 2021, GetSwift Technologies had cash of US$12m and no debt. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through US$18m. Therefore, from March 2021 it had roughly 8 months of cash runway. 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 GetSwift Technologies Growing?

At first glance it's a bit worrying to see that GetSwift Technologies actually boosted its cash burn by 17%, year on year. On a more positive note, the operating revenue improved by 218% over the period, offering an indication that the expenditure may well be worthwhile. If revenue is maintained once spending on growth decreases, that could well pay off! It seems to be growing nicely. In reality, this article only makes a short study of the company's growth data. You can take a look at how GetSwift Technologies is growing revenue over time by checking this visualization of past revenue growth.

How Easily Can GetSwift Technologies Raise Cash?

Even though it seems like GetSwift Technologies is developing its business nicely, we still like to consider how easily it could raise more money to accelerate growth. 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 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 US$30m, GetSwift Technologies' US$18m in cash burn equates to about 62% of its market value. Given how large that cash burn is, relative to the market value of the entire company, we'd consider it to be a high risk stock, with the real possibility of extreme dilution.

So, Should We Worry About GetSwift Technologies' Cash Burn?

Even though its cash burn relative to its market cap makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought GetSwift Technologies' revenue growth was relatively promising. After looking at that range of measures, we think shareholders should be extremely attentive to how the company is using its cash, as the cash burn makes us uncomfortable. Separately, we looked at different risks affecting the company and spotted 4 warning signs for GetSwift Technologies (of which 2 are a bit concerning!) you should know about.

If you would prefer to check out another company with better fundamentals, then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt or this list of stocks which are all forecast to grow.

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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.
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