Pacific Edge (NZSE:PEB) Is In A Strong Position To Grow Its Business

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. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.

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

View our latest analysis for Pacific Edge

Does Pacific Edge Have A Long Cash Runway?

You can calculate a company's cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. When Pacific Edge last reported its balance sheet in September 2021, it had zero debt and cash worth NZ$92m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through NZ$15m. So it had a cash runway of about 6.1 years from September 2021. Even though this is but one measure of the company's cash burn, the thought of such a long cash runway warms our bellies in a comforting way. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

How Well Is Pacific Edge Growing?

On balance, we think it's mildly positive that Pacific Edge trimmed its cash burn by 5.3% over the last twelve months. And arguably the operating revenue growth of 80% was even more impressive. We think it is growing rather well, upon reflection. 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 Pacific Edge Raise Cash?

There's no doubt Pacific Edge 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. 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).

Pacific Edge has a market capitalisation of NZ$1.0b and burnt through NZ$15m last year, which is 1.5% of the company's market value. That means it could easily issue a few shares to fund more growth, and might well be in a position to borrow cheaply.

How Risky Is Pacific Edge's Cash Burn Situation?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Pacific Edge's cash burn. For example, we think its revenue growth suggests that the company is on a good path. Its weak point is its cash burn reduction, but even that wasn't too bad! 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. Taking an in-depth view of risks, we've identified 2 warning signs for Pacific Edge that you should be aware of before investing.

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.