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We Think iSignthis (ASX:ISX) Can Easily Afford To Drive Business Growth

Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. Indeed, iSignthis (ASX:ISX) stock is up 664% in the last year, providing strong gains for shareholders. Having said that, unprofitable companies are risky because they could potentially burn through all their cash and become distressed.

Given its strong share price performance, we think it's worthwhile for iSignthis shareholders to consider whether its cash burn is concerning. 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. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.

See our latest analysis for iSignthis

When Might iSignthis Run Out Of Money?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. In June 2019, iSignthis had AU$10.0m in cash, and was debt-free. In the last year, its cash burn was AU$5.9m. Therefore, from June 2019 it had roughly 20 months of cash runway. Importantly, though, the one analyst we see covering the stock thinks that iSignthis will reach cashflow breakeven before then. If that happens, then the length of its cash runway, today, would become a moot point. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

ASX:ISX Historical Debt, October 13th 2019
ASX:ISX Historical Debt, October 13th 2019

How Well Is iSignthis Growing?

iSignthis actually ramped up its cash burn by a whopping 66% in the last year, which shows it is boosting investment in the business. On the bright side, at least operating revenue was up 35% over the same period, giving some cause for hope. Considering the factors above, the company doesn’t fare badly when it comes to assessing how it is changing over time. 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.

How Easily Can iSignthis Raise Cash?

iSignthis seems to be in a fairly good position, in terms of cash burn, but we still think it's worthwhile considering how easily it could raise more money if it wanted to. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. One of the main advantages held by publicly listed companies is that they can sell shares to investors to raise cash to fund 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).

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iSignthis's cash burn of AU$5.9m is about 0.5% of its AU$1.2b market capitalisation. 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 iSignthis's Cash Burn Situation?

It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way iSignthis is burning through its cash. For example, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap suggests that the company is on a good path. While its increasing cash burn wasn't great, the other factors mentioned in this article more than make up for weakness on that measure. It's clearly very positive to see that at least one analyst is forecasting the company will break even fairly soon 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. While we always like to monitor cash burn for early stage companies, qualitative factors such as the CEO pay can also shed light on the situation. Click here to see free what the iSignthis CEO is paid..

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)

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.