Yahoo Finance Is Evolution Energy Minerals (ASX:EV1) In A Good Position To Deliver On Growth Plans?
We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?
So should Evolution Energy Minerals (ASX:EV1) shareholders 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. Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn.
See our latest analysis for Evolution Energy Minerals
Does Evolution Energy Minerals Have A Long Cash Runway?
A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. When Evolution Energy Minerals last reported its balance sheet in June 2022, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$5.4m. Importantly, its cash burn was AU$5.6m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of approximately 11 months from June 2022. 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 Evolution Energy Minerals' Cash Burn Changing Over Time?
Because Evolution Energy Minerals 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. Remarkably, it actually increased its cash burn by 1,444% in the last year. Given that sharp increase in spending, the company's cash runway will shrink rapidly as it depletes its cash reserves. Evolution Energy Minerals 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 Evolution Energy Minerals Raise More Cash Easily?
Since its cash burn is moving in the wrong direction, Evolution Energy Minerals shareholders may wish to think ahead to when the company may need to raise more cash. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive 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).
Evolution Energy Minerals has a market capitalisation of AU$63m and burnt through AU$5.6m last year, which is 8.9% of the company's market value. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.
So, Should We Worry About Evolution Energy Minerals' Cash Burn?
On this analysis of Evolution Energy 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. Looking at the factors mentioned in this short report, we do think that its cash burn is a bit risky, and it does make us slightly nervous about the stock. On another note, Evolution Energy Minerals has 4 warning signs (and 2 which are a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.
If you would prefer to check out another company with better fundamentals, then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt or this list of stocks which are all forecast to grow.
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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.
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