Yahoo Finance Companies Like Alba Mineral Resources (LON:ALBA) Are In A Position To Invest In Growth
We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. For example, Alba Mineral Resources (LON:ALBA) shareholders have done very well over the last year, with the share price soaring by 239%. But while the successes are well known, investors should not ignore the very many unprofitable companies that simply burn through all their cash and collapse.
So notwithstanding the buoyant share price, we think it's well worth asking whether Alba Mineral Resources' cash burn is too risky. 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). Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn.
Check out our latest analysis for Alba Mineral Resources
How Long Is Alba Mineral Resources' Cash Runway?
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. Alba Mineral Resources has such a small amount of debt that we'll set it aside, and focus on the UK£1.5m in cash it held at November 2020. Importantly, its cash burn was UK£590k over the trailing twelve months. Therefore, from November 2020 it had 2.6 years of cash runway. That's decent, giving the company a couple years to develop its business. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.
How Is Alba Mineral Resources' Cash Burn Changing Over Time?
Alba Mineral Resources didn't record any revenue over the last year, indicating that it's an early stage company still developing its business. So while we can't look to sales to understand growth, we can look at how the cash burn is changing to understand how expenditure is trending over time. While it hardly paints a picture of imminent growth, the fact that it has reduced its cash burn by 25% over the last year suggests some degree of prudence. Alba Mineral Resources 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.
How Easily Can Alba Mineral Resources Raise Cash?
Even though it has reduced its cash burn recently, shareholders should still consider how easy it would be for Alba Mineral Resources to raise more cash in the future. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. 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.
Alba Mineral Resources' cash burn of UK£590k is about 3.6% of its UK£16m market capitalisation. 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.
Is Alba Mineral Resources' Cash Burn A Worry?
It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Alba Mineral Resources is burning through its cash. In particular, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. And even though its cash burn reduction wasn't quite as impressive, it was still a positive. Looking at all the measures in this article, together, we're not worried about its rate of cash burn, which seems to be under control. On another note, we conducted an in-depth investigation of the company, and identified 4 warning signs for Alba Mineral Resources (2 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, 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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