There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. 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.
Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether BeammWave (STO:BEAMMW B) 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'. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.
When Might BeammWave Run Out Of Money?
A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. When BeammWave last reported its September 2025 balance sheet in November 2025, it had zero debt and cash worth kr93m. In the last year, its cash burn was kr37m. So it had a cash runway of about 2.5 years from September 2025. Arguably, that's a prudent and sensible length of runway to have. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.
Check out our latest analysis for BeammWave
How Well Is BeammWave Growing?
BeammWave actually ramped up its cash burn by a whopping 65% in the last year, which shows it is boosting investment in the business. That does give us pause, and we can't take much solace in the operating revenue growth of 19% in the same time frame. Considering both these factors, we're not particularly excited by its growth profile. 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.
How Easily Can BeammWave Raise Cash?
BeammWave seems to be in a fairly good position, in terms of cash burn, but we still think it's worthwhile considering how easily it could raise more money if it wanted to. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. 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 kr346m, BeammWave's kr37m in cash burn equates to about 11% of its 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.
Is BeammWave's Cash Burn A Worry?
On this analysis of BeammWave's cash burn, we think its cash runway was reassuring, while its increasing cash burn has us a bit worried. 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. On another note, we conducted an in-depth investigation of the company, and identified 4 warning signs for BeammWave (2 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
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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.