Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. For example, Pluristem Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PSTI) shareholders have done very well over the last year, with the share price soaring by 135%. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.

In light of its strong share price run, we think now is a good time to investigate how risky Pluristem Therapeutics' cash burn is. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

See our latest analysis for Pluristem Therapeutics

Does Pluristem Therapeutics Have A Long Cash Runway?

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. In June 2020, Pluristem Therapeutics had US$46m in cash, and was debt-free. Importantly, its cash burn was US$27m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of approximately 21 months from June 2020. Notably, analysts forecast that Pluristem Therapeutics will break even (at a free cash flow level) in about 4 years. That means unless the company reduces its cash burn quickly, it may well look to raise more cash. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

How Is Pluristem Therapeutics' Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Whilst it's great to see that Pluristem Therapeutics has already begun generating revenue from operations, last year it only produced US$23k, so we don't think it is generating significant revenue, at this point. As a result, we think it's a bit early to focus on the revenue growth, so we'll limit ourselves to looking at how the cash burn is changing over time. As it happens, the company's cash burn reduced by 10% over the last year, which suggests that management are maintaining a fairly steady rate of business development, albeit with a slight decrease in spending. 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 Easily Can Pluristem Therapeutics Raise Cash?

Even though it has reduced its cash burn recently, shareholders should still consider how easy it would be for Pluristem Therapeutics to raise more cash in the future. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future 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).