We're Not Very Worried About ANGLE's (LON:AGL) Cash Burn Rate

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. Having said that, unprofitable companies are risky because they could potentially burn through all their cash and become distressed.

So should ANGLE (LON:AGL) shareholders be worried about its 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). First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.

Check out our latest analysis for ANGLE

When Might ANGLE Run Out Of Money?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. As at December 2020, ANGLE had cash of UK£29m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was UK£8.4m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of about 3.4 years from December 2020. A runway of this length affords the company the time and space it needs to develop the business. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Well Is ANGLE Growing?

We reckon the fact that ANGLE managed to shrink its cash burn by 38% over the last year is rather encouraging. But the revenue dip of 13% in the same period was a bit concerning. On balance, we'd say the company is improving over time. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.

Can ANGLE Raise More Cash Easily?

There's no doubt ANGLE seems to be in a fairly good position, when it comes to managing its cash burn, but even if it's only hypothetical, it's always worth asking how easily it could raise more money to fund growth. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. 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).

ANGLE's cash burn of UK£8.4m is about 3.3% of its UK£251m 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 ANGLE's Cash Burn?

It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way ANGLE is burning through its cash. For example, we think its cash runway suggests that the company is on a good path. While its falling revenue 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. Separately, we looked at different risks affecting the company and spotted 5 warning signs for ANGLE (of which 1 shouldn't be ignored!) you should know about.

Of course ANGLE 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. 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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