We're Interested To See How Cardiovascular Systems (NASDAQ:CSII) Uses Its Cash Hoard To Grow

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 while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

So should Cardiovascular Systems (NASDAQ:CSII) 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 Cardiovascular Systems

Does Cardiovascular Systems Have A Long Cash Runway?

A cash runway is defined as the length of time it would take a company to run out of money if it kept spending at its current rate of cash burn. As at December 2020, Cardiovascular Systems had cash of US$225m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was US$16m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a very long cash runway of many years from December 2020. Importantly, though, analysts think that Cardiovascular Systems 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.

Is Cardiovascular Systems' Revenue Growing?

We're hesitant to extrapolate on the recent trend to assess its cash burn, because Cardiovascular Systems actually had positive free cash flow last year, so operating revenue growth is probably our best bet to measure, right now. Regrettably, the company's operating revenue moved in the wrong direction over the last twelve months, declining by 14%. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.

How Easily Can Cardiovascular Systems Raise Cash?

Given its problematic fall in revenue, Cardiovascular Systems shareholders should consider how the company could fund its growth, if it turns out it needs more cash. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations.

Cardiovascular Systems has a market capitalisation of US$1.6b and burnt through US$16m last year, which is 1.0% 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.

Is Cardiovascular Systems' Cash Burn A Worry?

It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Cardiovascular Systems is burning through its cash. In particular, we think its cash runway stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. Although its falling revenue does give us reason for pause, the other metrics we discussed in this article form a positive picture overall. There's no doubt that shareholders can take a lot of heart from the fact that analysts are forecasting it will reach breakeven before too long. 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. An in-depth examination of risks revealed 1 warning sign for Cardiovascular Systems that readers should think about before committing capital to this stock.

Of course Cardiovascular Systems 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. 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.
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