Yahoo Finance Is ZEN Graphene Solutions (CVE:ZEN) In A Good Position To Deliver On Growth Plans?
Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. Indeed, ZEN Graphene Solutions (CVE:ZEN) stock is up 809% in the last year, providing strong gains for shareholders. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?
Given its strong share price performance, we think it's worthwhile for ZEN Graphene Solutions shareholders to consider whether its cash burn is concerning. For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.
View our latest analysis for ZEN Graphene Solutions
Does ZEN Graphene Solutions Have A Long Cash Runway?
A cash runway is defined as the length of time it would take a company to run out of money if it kept spending at its current rate of cash burn. As at June 2021, ZEN Graphene Solutions had cash of CA$4.5m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was CA$4.7m over the trailing twelve months. Therefore, from June 2021 it had roughly 11 months of cash runway. That's quite a short cash runway, indicating the company must either reduce its annual cash burn or replenish its cash. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.
How Is ZEN Graphene Solutions' Cash Burn Changing Over Time?
Because ZEN Graphene Solutions isn't currently generating revenue, we consider it an early-stage business. Nonetheless, we can still examine its cash burn trajectory as part of our assessment of its cash burn situation. In fact, it ramped its spending strongly over the last year, increasing cash burn by 104%. That sort of spending growth rate can't continue for very long before it causes balance sheet weakness, generally speaking. ZEN Graphene Solutions makes us a little nervous due to its lack of substantial operating revenue. We prefer most of the stocks on this list of stocks that analysts expect to grow.
Can ZEN Graphene Solutions Raise More Cash Easily?
Given its cash burn trajectory, ZEN Graphene Solutions shareholders should already be thinking about how easy it might be for it to raise further cash in the future. 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.
ZEN Graphene Solutions' cash burn of CA$4.7m is about 1.3% of its CA$357m 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.
Is ZEN Graphene Solutions' Cash Burn A Worry?
On this analysis of ZEN Graphene Solutions' cash burn, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap was reassuring, while its increasing cash burn has us a bit worried. Even though we don't think it has a problem with its cash burn, the analysis we've done in this article does suggest that shareholders should give some careful thought to the potential cost of raising more money in the future. On another note, ZEN Graphene Solutions has 5 warning signs (and 3 which can't be ignored) 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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