We're Hopeful That BabyTree Group (HKG:1761) Will Use Its Cash Wisely

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

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether BabyTree Group (HKG:1761) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.

View our latest analysis for BabyTree Group

Does BabyTree Group Have A Long Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. When BabyTree Group last reported its balance sheet in June 2021, it had zero debt and cash worth CN¥1.5b. Importantly, its cash burn was CN¥110m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a very long cash runway of many years from June 2021. While this is only one measure of its cash burn situation, it certainly gives us the impression that holders have nothing to worry about. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Well Is BabyTree Group Growing?

Happily, BabyTree Group is travelling in the right direction when it comes to its cash burn, which is down 64% over the last year. Pleasingly, this was achieved with the help of a 21% boost to revenue. It seems to be growing nicely. In reality, this article only makes a short study of the company's growth data. This graph of historic earnings and revenue shows how BabyTree Group is building its business over time.

Can BabyTree Group Raise More Cash Easily?

There's no doubt BabyTree Group 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. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. 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.

BabyTree Group has a market capitalisation of CN¥975m and burnt through CN¥110m last year, which is 11% of the company's market value. Given that situation, it's fair to say the company wouldn't have much trouble raising more cash for growth, but shareholders would be somewhat diluted.

So, Should We Worry About BabyTree Group's Cash Burn?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about BabyTree Group's cash burn. For example, we think its cash runway suggests that the company is on a good path. And even though its revenue growth wasn't quite as impressive, it was still a positive. 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. On another note, we conducted an in-depth investigation of the company, and identified 2 warning signs for BabyTree Group (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.
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