Yahoo Finance We're Hopeful That Research Frontiers (NASDAQ:REFR) Will Use Its Cash Wisely
Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.
So should Research Frontiers (NASDAQ:REFR) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? 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 Research Frontiers
When Might Research Frontiers Run Out Of Money?
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. As at June 2020, Research Frontiers had cash of US$5.8m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was US$2.0m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of about 2.9 years from June 2020. Arguably, that's a prudent and sensible length of runway to have. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.
How Well Is Research Frontiers Growing?
On balance, we think it's mildly positive that Research Frontiers trimmed its cash burn by 14% over the last twelve months. But the revenue dip of 5.1% in the same period was a bit concerning. Considering both these factors, we're not particularly excited by its growth profile. Of course, we've only taken a quick look at the stock's growth metrics, here. You can take a look at how Research Frontiers has developed its business over time by checking this visualization of its revenue and earnings history.
How Hard Would It Be For Research Frontiers To Raise More Cash For Growth?
There's no doubt Research Frontiers seems to be in a fairly good position, when it comes to managing its cash burn, but even if it's only hypothetical, it's always worth asking how easily it could raise more money to fund growth. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations.
Research Frontiers' cash burn of US$2.0m is about 2.2% of its US$93m 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.
Is Research Frontiers' Cash Burn A Worry?
It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Research Frontiers is burning through its cash. For example, we think its cash runway suggests that the company is on a good path. While its falling revenue wasn't great, the other factors mentioned in this article more than make up for weakness on that measure. 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. Readers need to have a sound understanding of business risks before investing in a stock, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Research Frontiers that potential shareholders should take into account before putting money into a stock.
Of course Research Frontiers may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.
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. 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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