Is Catabasis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CATB) In A Good Position To Deliver On Growth Plans?
We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. For example, although Amazon.com made losses for many years after listing, if you had bought and held the shares since 1999, you would have made a fortune. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?
NASDAQ:CATB) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? In this report, we will consider the company’s annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the ‘cash burn’. Let’s start with an examination of the business’ cash, relative to its cash burn.” data-reactid=”29″>So should Catabasis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CATB) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? In this report, we will consider the company’s annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the ‘cash burn’. Let’s start with an examination of the business’ cash, relative to its cash burn.
Check out our latest analysis for Catabasis Pharmaceuticals ” data-reactid=”30″> Check out our latest analysis for Catabasis Pharmaceuticals
When Might Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Run Out Of Money?
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. When Catabasis Pharmaceuticals last reported its balance sheet in June 2020, it had zero debt and cash worth US$54m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through US$29m. So it had a cash runway of approximately 23 months from June 2020. That’s not too bad, but it’s fair to say the end of the cash runway is in sight, unless cash burn reduces drastically. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.
How Is Catabasis Pharmaceuticals’ Cash Burn Changing Over Time?
how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.” data-reactid=”50″>Catabasis Pharmaceuticals didn’t record any revenue over the last year, indicating that it’s an early stage company still developing its business. Nonetheless, we can still examine its cash burn trajectory as part of our assessment of its cash burn situation. With the cash burn rate up 23% in the last year, it seems that the company is ratcheting up investment in the business over time. However, the company’s true cash runway will therefore be shorter than suggested above, if spending continues to increase. 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 Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Raise Cash?
Given its cash burn trajectory, Catabasis Pharmaceuticals shareholders may wish to consider how easily it could raise more cash, despite its solid cash runway. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future 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.
Catabasis Pharmaceuticals’ cash burn of US$29m is about 23% of its US$127m market capitalisation. That’s not insignificant, and if the company had to sell enough shares to fund another year’s growth at the current share price, you’d likely witness fairly costly dilution.
So, Should We Worry About Catabasis Pharmaceuticals’ Cash Burn?
1 warning sign for Catabasis Pharmaceuticals that potential shareholders should take into account before putting money into a stock.” data-reactid=”55″>Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought Catabasis Pharmaceuticals’ cash runway was relatively promising. 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. Readers need to have a sound understanding of business risks before investing in a stock, and we’ve spotted 1 warning sign for Catabasis Pharmaceuticals that potential shareholders should take into account before putting money into a stock.
