Here's Why We're Not At All Concerned With Beam Therapeutics' (NASDAQ:BEAM) Cash Burn Situation

We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.

So, the natural question for Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of 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). We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.

Check out our latest analysis for Beam Therapeutics

When Might Beam Therapeutics Run Out Of Money?

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 Beam Therapeutics last reported its September 2024 balance sheet in November 2024, it had zero debt and cash worth US$926m. Importantly, its cash burn was US$145m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of about 6.4 years from September 2024. While this is only one measure of its cash burn situation, it certainly gives us the impression that holders have nothing to worry about. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Well Is Beam Therapeutics Growing?

Happily, Beam Therapeutics is travelling in the right direction when it comes to its cash burn, which is down 63% over the last year. But its revenue is better yet, flying higher than Elon Musk and his rocket, with growth of 329% in the last year. Considering these factors, we're fairly impressed by its growth trajectory. 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 Beam Therapeutics Raise More Cash Easily?

While Beam Therapeutics seems to be in a decent position, we reckon it is still worth thinking about how easily it could raise more cash, if that proved desirable. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. 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).

Since it has a market capitalisation of US$2.1b, Beam Therapeutics' US$145m in cash burn equates to about 6.9% of its market value. Given that is a rather small percentage, it would probably be really easy for the company to fund another year's growth by issuing some new shares to investors, or even by taking out a loan.

Is Beam Therapeutics' Cash Burn A Worry?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Beam Therapeutics' cash burn. For example, we think its revenue growth suggests that the company is on a good path. And even its cash burn relative to its market cap was very encouraging. Taking all the factors in this report into account, we're not at all worried about its cash burn, as the business appears well capitalized to spend as needs be. Taking a deeper dive, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Beam Therapeutics you should be aware of, and 1 of them can't be ignored.

Of course Beam Therapeutics 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 with high insider ownership.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.