Yahoo Finance We're Hopeful That Buru Energy (ASX:BRU) Will Use Its Cash Wisely
Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. 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. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.
Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Buru Energy (ASX:BRU) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. 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. First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.
View our latest analysis for Buru Energy
Does Buru Energy Have A Long Cash Runway?
A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. As at June 2021, Buru Energy had cash of AU$35m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was AU$1.8m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a very long cash runway of many years from June 2021. While this is only one measure of its cash burn situation, it certainly gives us the impression that holders have nothing to worry about. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.
How Well Is Buru Energy Growing?
Buru Energy managed to reduce its cash burn by 94% over the last twelve months, which is extremely promising, when it comes to considering its need for cash. But it was a bit disconcerting to see operating revenue down 39% in that time. On balance, we'd say the company is improving over time. In reality, this article only makes a short study of the company's growth data. You can take a look at how Buru Energy has developed its business over time by checking this visualization of its revenue and earnings history.
How Easily Can Buru Energy Raise Cash?
While Buru Energy 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. One of the main advantages held by publicly listed companies is that they can sell shares to investors to raise cash and fund growth. By looking at a company's cash burn relative to its market capitalisation, we gain insight on how much shareholders would be diluted if the company needed to raise enough cash to cover another year's cash burn.
Since it has a market capitalisation of AU$78m, Buru Energy's AU$1.8m in cash burn equates to about 2.4% of its market value. That means it could easily issue a few shares to fund more growth, and might well be in a position to borrow cheaply.
How Risky Is Buru Energy's Cash Burn Situation?
As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Buru Energy's cash burn. For example, we think its cash burn reduction suggests that the company is on a good path. Although we do find its falling revenue to be a bit of a negative, once we consider the other metrics mentioned in this article together, the overall picture is one we are comfortable with. After taking into account the various metrics mentioned in this report, we're pretty comfortable with how the company is spending its cash, as it seems on track to meet its needs over the medium term. On another note, Buru Energy has 3 warning signs (and 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) we think you should know about.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)
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.
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