Yahoo Finance Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) Is In A Strong Position To Grow Its Business
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. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.
Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. For the purpose of this article, we'll define cash burn as the amount of cash the company is spending each year to fund its growth (also called its negative free cash flow). First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.
View our latest analysis for Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals
When Might Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals 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 March 2022, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals had cash of US$402m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was US$75m over the trailing twelve months. Therefore, from March 2022 it had 5.4 years of cash runway. Even though this is but one measure of the company's cash burn, the thought of such a long cash runway warms our bellies in a comforting way. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.
Is Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals' Revenue Growing?
We're hesitant to extrapolate on the recent trend to assess its cash burn, because Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals actually had positive free cash flow last year, so operating revenue growth is probably our best bet to measure, right now. Happily for shareholders, the revenue is up a stonking 196% over the last year. 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.
How Hard Would It Be For Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals To Raise More Cash For Growth?
There's no doubt Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals' revenue growth is impressive 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. 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 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).
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has a market capitalisation of US$3.1b and burnt through US$75m last year, which is 2.4% of the company's market value. That means it could easily issue a few shares to fund more growth, and might well be in a position to borrow cheaply.
So, Should We Worry About Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals' Cash Burn?
It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals is burning through its cash. For example, we think its revenue growth suggests that the company is on a good path. But it's fair to say that its cash burn relative to its market cap was also very reassuring. After considering a range of factors in this article, we're pretty relaxed about its cash burn, since the company seems to be in a good position to continue to fund its growth. Readers need to have a sound understanding of business risks before investing in a stock, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals that potential shareholders should take into account before putting money into a stock.
Of course Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals 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.
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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.
