Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. Having said that, unprofitable companies are risky because they could potentially burn through all their cash and become distressed.

So, the natural question for Sol-Gel Technologies (NASDAQ:SLGL) 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). The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

See our latest analysis for Sol-Gel Technologies

Does Sol-Gel Technologies 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 December 2022, Sol-Gel Technologies had US$34m in cash, and was debt-free. In the last year, its cash burn was US$9.7m. That means it had a cash runway of about 3.5 years as of December 2022. Notably, however, analysts think that Sol-Gel Technologies will break even (at a free cash flow level) before then. In that case, it may never reach the end of its cash runway. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Well Is Sol-Gel Technologies Growing?

At first glance it's a bit worrying to see that Sol-Gel Technologies actually boosted its cash burn by 23%, year on year. The fact that its operating revenue tanked 88% in the last year is even more worrying. Considering these two factors together makes us nervous about the direction the company seems to be heading. 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 Sol-Gel Technologies To Raise More Cash For Growth?

Even though it seems like Sol-Gel Technologies is developing its business nicely, we still like to consider how easily it could raise more money to accelerate 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 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.