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We're Hopeful That Actinogen Medical (ASX:ACW) Will Use Its Cash Wisely

We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. Indeed, Actinogen Medical (ASX:ACW) stock is up 211% 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?

In light of its strong share price run, we think now is a good time to investigate how risky Actinogen Medical's cash burn is. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.

View our latest analysis for Actinogen Medical

When Might Actinogen Medical Run Out Of Money?

You can calculate a company's cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. As at June 2020, Actinogen Medical had cash of AU$5.0m and no debt. In the last year, its cash burn was AU$2.9m. That means it had a cash runway of around 21 months as of June 2020. While that cash runway isn't too concerning, sensible holders would be peering into the distance, and considering what happens if the company runs out of cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

debt-equity-history-analysis
debt-equity-history-analysis

How Is Actinogen Medical's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Although Actinogen Medical reported revenue of AU$3.5m last year, it didn't actually have any revenue from operations. That means we consider it a pre-revenue business, and we will focus our growth analysis on cash burn, for now. Notably, its cash burn was actually down by 73% in the last year, which is a real positive in terms of resilience, but uninspiring when it comes to investment for growth. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.

How Easily Can Actinogen Medical Raise Cash?

There's no doubt Actinogen Medical's rapidly reducing cash burn brings comfort, but even if it's only hypothetical, it's always worth asking how easily it could raise more money to fund further growth. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive 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.

Actinogen Medical has a market capitalisation of AU$31m and burnt through AU$2.9m last year, which is 9.2% 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.

How Risky Is Actinogen Medical's Cash Burn Situation?

It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Actinogen Medical is burning through its cash. In particular, we think its cash burn reduction stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. Its cash runway wasn't quite as good, but was still rather encouraging! Based on the factors mentioned in this article, we think its cash burn situation warrants some attention from shareholders, but we don't think they should be worried. On another note, Actinogen Medical has 4 warning signs (and 1 which is concerning) 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. 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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