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We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. Indeed, Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) stock is up 385% 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 Spartan Resources 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. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.
Check out our latest analysis for Spartan Resources
How Long Is Spartan Resources' Cash Runway?
A company's cash runway is the amount of time it would take to burn through its cash reserves at its current cash burn rate. When Spartan Resources last reported its December 2023 balance sheet in March 2024, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$39m. Importantly, its cash burn was AU$39m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of approximately 12 months from December 2023. Importantly, the one analyst we see covering the stock thinks that Spartan Resources will reach cashflow breakeven in around 22 months. Essentially, that means the company will either reduce its cash burn, or else require more cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.
How Is Spartan Resources' Cash Burn Changing Over Time?
In our view, Spartan Resources doesn't yet produce significant amounts of operating revenue, since it reported just AU$218k in the last twelve months. Therefore, for the purposes of this analysis we'll focus on how the cash burn is tracking. Its cash burn positively exploded in the last year, up 401%. With that kind of spending growth its cash runway will shorten quickly, as it simultaneously uses its cash while increasing the burn rate. 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.
Can Spartan Resources Raise More Cash Easily?
Given its cash burn trajectory, Spartan Resources 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. 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.