We're Hopeful That Ever Supreme Bio Technology (GTSM:6712) Will Use Its Cash Wisely

Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. 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.

So should Ever Supreme Bio Technology (GTSM:6712) 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). The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

See our latest analysis for Ever Supreme Bio Technology

How Long Is Ever Supreme Bio Technology's Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is the amount of time it would take to burn through its cash reserves at its current cash burn rate. As at September 2020, Ever Supreme Bio Technology had cash of NT$414m and no debt. In the last year, its cash burn was NT$218m. So it had a cash runway of approximately 23 months from September 2020. While that cash runway isn't too concerning, sensible holders would be peering into the distance, and considering what happens if the company runs out of cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Is Ever Supreme Bio Technology's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Whilst it's great to see that Ever Supreme Bio Technology has already begun generating revenue from operations, last year it only produced NT$53m, so we don't think it is generating significant revenue, at this point. Therefore, for the purposes of this analysis we'll focus on how the cash burn is tracking. In fact, it ramped its spending strongly over the last year, increasing cash burn by 104%. It's fair to say that sort of rate of increase cannot be maintained for very long, without putting pressure on the balance sheet. 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 Ever Supreme Bio Technology Raise More Cash Easily?

While Ever Supreme Bio Technology does have a solid cash runway, its cash burn trajectory may have some shareholders thinking ahead to when the company may need to raise more cash. 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. 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.

Ever Supreme Bio Technology's cash burn of NT$218m is about 2.2% of its NT$9.7b market capitalisation. That means it could easily issue a few shares to fund more growth, and might well be in a position to borrow cheaply.

Is Ever Supreme Bio Technology's Cash Burn A Worry?

On this analysis of Ever Supreme Bio Technology's cash burn, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap 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, Ever Supreme Bio Technology has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is potentially serious) we think you should know about.

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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