Stock Analysis

We're Keeping An Eye On Agape ATP's (NASDAQ:ATPC) Cash Burn Rate

NasdaqCM:ATPC
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Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, although Amazon.com made losses for many years after listing, if you had bought and held the shares since 1999, you would have made a fortune. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Agape ATP (NASDAQ:ATPC) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

Check out our latest analysis for Agape ATP

How Long Is Agape ATP's Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. When Agape ATP last reported its June 2024 balance sheet in August 2024, it had zero debt and cash worth US$3.2m. Importantly, its cash burn was US$3.0m over the trailing twelve months. Therefore, from June 2024 it had roughly 13 months of cash runway. 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. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.

debt-equity-history-analysis
NasdaqCM:ATPC Debt to Equity History August 30th 2024

How Well Is Agape ATP Growing?

Notably, Agape ATP actually ramped up its cash burn very hard and fast in the last year, by 171%, signifying heavy investment in the business. While that's concerning on it's own, the fact that operating revenue was actually down 21% over the same period makes us positively tremulous. In light of the above-mentioned, we're pretty wary of the trajectory the company seems to be on. Of course, we've only taken a quick look at the stock's growth metrics, here. This graph of historic earnings and revenue shows how Agape ATP is building its business over time.

How Easily Can Agape ATP Raise Cash?

Agape ATP revenue is declining and its cash burn is increasing, so many may be considering its need to raise more cash in the future. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future 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.

Agape ATP's cash burn of US$3.0m is about 2.4% of its US$123m market capitalisation. So it could almost certainly just borrow a little to fund another year's growth, or else easily raise the cash by issuing a few shares.

How Risky Is Agape ATP's Cash Burn Situation?

On this analysis of Agape ATP'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. We don't think its cash burn is particularly problematic, but after considering the range of factors in this article, we do think shareholders should be monitoring how it changes over time. Separately, we looked at different risks affecting the company and spotted 5 warning signs for Agape ATP (of which 3 don't sit too well with us!) 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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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.