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Here's Why We're Not At All Concerned With Lithium Plus Minerals' (ASX:LPM) Cash Burn Situation

There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. 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 the successes are well known, investors should not ignore the very many unprofitable companies that simply burn through all their cash and collapse.

So, the natural question for Lithium Plus Minerals (ASX:LPM) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of cash burn. In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn.

Check out our latest analysis for Lithium Plus Minerals

When Might Lithium Plus Minerals Run Out Of Money?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. As at June 2022, Lithium Plus Minerals had cash of AU$9.1m and no debt. In the last year, its cash burn was AU$903k. That means it had a cash runway of very many years as of June 2022. 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.

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

Can Lithium Plus Minerals Raise More Cash Easily?

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.

Since it has a market capitalisation of AU$64m, Lithium Plus Minerals' AU$903k in cash burn equates to about 1.4% of its 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 Lithium Plus Minerals' Cash Burn?

Because Lithium Plus Minerals is an early stage company, we don't have a great deal of data on which to form an opinion of its cash burn. Certainly, we'd be more confident in the stock if it was generating operating revenue. However, it is fair to say that its cash runway gave us comfort. Overall, we think its cash burn seems perfectly reasonable, and we are not concerned by it. On another note, we conducted an in-depth investigation of the company, and identified 4 warning signs for Lithium Plus Minerals (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you would prefer to check out another company with better fundamentals, then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt or this list of stocks which are all forecast to grow.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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