Companies Like Deciphera Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:DCPH) Are In A Position To Invest In Growth

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. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.

So should Deciphera Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:DCPH) shareholders 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'. First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.

View our latest analysis for Deciphera Pharmaceuticals

How Long Is Deciphera Pharmaceuticals' Cash Runway?

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. In March 2021, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals had US$502m in cash, and was debt-free. In the last year, its cash burn was US$232m. Therefore, from March 2021 it had 2.2 years of cash runway. Notably, analysts forecast that Deciphera Pharmaceuticals will break even (at a free cash flow level) in about 3 years. Essentially, that means the company will either reduce its cash burn, or else require more cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Well Is Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Growing?

At first glance it's a bit worrying to see that Deciphera Pharmaceuticals actually boosted its cash burn by 15%, year on year. Given that its operating revenue increased 168% in that time, it seems the company has reason to think its expenditure is working well to drive growth. If revenue is maintained once spending on growth decreases, that could well pay off! It seems to be growing nicely. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.

Can Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Raise More Cash Easily?

While Deciphera Pharmaceuticals 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. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future 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$2.0b, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals' US$232m in cash burn equates to about 12% 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.

So, Should We Worry About Deciphera Pharmaceuticals' Cash Burn?

Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought Deciphera Pharmaceuticals' revenue growth was relatively promising. One real positive is that analysts are forecasting that the company will reach breakeven. 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. Taking an in-depth view of risks, we've identified 3 warning signs for Deciphera Pharmaceuticals that you should be aware of before investing.

Of course Deciphera Pharmaceuticals 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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