We Think Ping An Healthcare and Technology (HKG:1833) Can Afford To Drive Business Growth

There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. 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. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.

So should Ping An Healthcare and Technology (HKG:1833) shareholders 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'. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

See our latest analysis for Ping An Healthcare and Technology

When Might Ping An Healthcare and Technology Run Out Of Money?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. As at June 2022, Ping An Healthcare and Technology had cash of CN¥10b and no debt. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through CN¥1.2b. Therefore, from June 2022 it had 8.5 years of cash runway. Importantly, though, analysts think that Ping An Healthcare and Technology will reach cashflow breakeven before then. In that case, it may never reach the end of its cash runway. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

How Well Is Ping An Healthcare and Technology Growing?

At first glance it's a bit worrying to see that Ping An Healthcare and Technology actually boosted its cash burn by 8.2%, year on year. Also concerning, operating revenue was actually down by 20% in that time. Considering both these metrics, we're a little concerned about how the company is developing. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.

How Easily Can Ping An Healthcare and Technology Raise Cash?

Even though it seems like Ping An Healthcare and Technology is developing its business nicely, we still like to consider how easily it could raise more money to accelerate growth. 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. 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).

Ping An Healthcare and Technology's cash burn of CN¥1.2b is about 5.7% of its CN¥22b 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 Ping An Healthcare and Technology's Cash Burn?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Ping An Healthcare and Technology's cash burn. For example, we think its cash runway suggests that the company is on a good path. Although its falling revenue does give us reason for pause, the other metrics we discussed in this article form a positive picture overall. Shareholders can take heart from the fact that analysts are forecasting it will reach breakeven. Based on the factors mentioned in this article, we think its cash burn situation warrants some attention from shareholders, but we don't think they should be worried. An in-depth examination of risks revealed 2 warning signs for Ping An Healthcare and Technology that readers should think about before committing capital to this stock.

Of course Ping An Healthcare and Technology 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.