We're Not Very Worried About UserTesting's (NYSE:USER) Cash Burn Rate

There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. Having said that, unprofitable companies are risky because they could potentially burn through all their cash and become distressed.

So, the natural question for UserTesting (NYSE:USER) 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). 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 UserTesting

Does UserTesting Have A Long 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. As at September 2021, UserTesting had cash of US$65m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was US$30m over the trailing twelve months. That means it had a cash runway of about 2.1 years as of September 2021. That's decent, giving the company a couple years to develop its business. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.

How Well Is UserTesting Growing?

Notably, UserTesting actually ramped up its cash burn very hard and fast in the last year, by 115%, signifying heavy investment in the business. On the bright side, at least operating revenue was up 31% over the same period, giving some cause for hope. In light of the data above, we're fairly sanguine about the business 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 UserTesting Raise More Cash Easily?

While UserTesting seems to be in a fairly good position, it's still worth considering how easily it could raise more cash, even just to fuel faster growth. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. 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).

UserTesting's cash burn of US$30m is about 2.3% of its US$1.3b 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.

So, Should We Worry About UserTesting's Cash Burn?

Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought UserTesting's cash burn relative to its market cap was relatively promising. 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 a deeper dive, we've spotted 3 warning signs for UserTesting you should be aware of, and 1 of them is concerning.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

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