Yahoo Finance Companies Like AVZ Minerals (ASX:AVZ) Are In A Position To Invest In Growth
There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. By way of example, AVZ Minerals (ASX:AVZ) has seen its share price rise 500% over the last year, delighting many shareholders. But while the successes are well known, investors should not ignore the very many unprofitable companies that simply burn through all their cash and collapse.
So notwithstanding the buoyant share price, we think it's well worth asking whether AVZ Minerals' cash burn is too risky. 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'.
See our latest analysis for AVZ Minerals
When Might AVZ Minerals 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 AVZ Minerals last reported its balance sheet in December 2021, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$76m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through AU$42m. Therefore, from December 2021 it had roughly 22 months of cash runway. Importantly, the one analyst we see covering the stock thinks that AVZ Minerals will reach cashflow breakeven in 2 years. That means unless the company reduces its cash burn quickly, it may well look to raise more cash. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.
How Is AVZ Minerals' Cash Burn Changing Over Time?
Although AVZ Minerals reported revenue of AU$927k last year, it didn't actually have any revenue from operations. To us, that makes it a pre-revenue company, so we'll look to its cash burn trajectory as an assessment of its cash burn situation. Its cash burn positively exploded in the last year, up 258%. Given that sharp increase in spending, the company's cash runway will shrink rapidly as it depletes its cash reserves. 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 Hard Would It Be For AVZ Minerals To Raise More Cash For Growth?
Given its cash burn trajectory, AVZ Minerals shareholders may wish to consider how easily it could raise more cash, despite its solid cash runway. 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. 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).
AVZ Minerals has a market capitalisation of AU$3.5b and burnt through AU$42m last year, which is 1.2% of the company's market value. 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 AVZ Minerals' Cash Burn Situation?
On this analysis of AVZ Minerals' cash burn, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap was reassuring, while its increasing cash burn has us a bit worried. One real positive is that at least one analyst is 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. Separately, we looked at different risks affecting the company and spotted 3 warning signs for AVZ Minerals (of which 1 doesn't sit too well with us!) you should know about.
Of course AVZ Minerals 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. 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.
