There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

So, the natural question for Ayala Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AYLA) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of 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). We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.

View our latest analysis for Ayala Pharmaceuticals

When Might Ayala Pharmaceuticals Run Out Of Money?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. When Ayala Pharmaceuticals last reported its balance sheet in March 2021, it had zero debt and cash worth US$56m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through US$31m. So it had a cash runway of approximately 22 months from March 2021. Importantly, analysts think that Ayala Pharmaceuticals will reach cashflow breakeven in 4 years. That means unless the company reduces its cash burn quickly, it may well look to raise more cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Well Is Ayala Pharmaceuticals Growing?

Ayala Pharmaceuticals boosted investment sharply in the last year, with cash burn ramping by 63%. That does give us pause, and we can't take much solace in the operating revenue growth of 20% in the same time frame. Considering both these factors, we're not particularly excited by its growth profile. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. 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 Ayala Pharmaceuticals To Raise More Cash For Growth?

Even though it seems like Ayala Pharmaceuticals is developing its business nicely, we still like to consider how easily it could raise more money to accelerate growth. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. 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.

Ayala Pharmaceuticals has a market capitalisation of US$153m and burnt through US$31m last year, which is 20% of the company's market value. That's fairly notable cash burn, so if the company had to sell shares to cover the cost of another year's operations, shareholders would suffer some costly dilution.

Is Ayala Pharmaceuticals' Cash Burn A Worry?

Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought Ayala Pharmaceuticals' cash runway was relatively promising. One real positive is that analysts are forecasting that the company will reach breakeven. 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. Taking an in-depth view of risks, we've identified 4 warning signs for Ayala Pharmaceuticals that you should be aware of before investing.

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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