There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. 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. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings (NASDAQ:ARCT) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn.

Does Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Have A Long Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. When Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings last reported its December 2023 balance sheet in March 2024, it had zero debt and cash worth US$292m. Importantly, its cash burn was US$21m over the trailing twelve months. That means it had a cash runway of very many years as of December 2023. Importantly, though, analysts think that Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings will reach cashflow breakeven before then. If that happens, then the length of its cash runway, today, would become a moot point. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.

Is Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings' Revenue Growing?

We're hesitant to extrapolate on the recent trend to assess its cash burn, because Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings actually had positive free cash flow last year, so operating revenue growth is probably our best bet to measure, right now. Regrettably, the company's operating revenue moved in the wrong direction over the last twelve months, declining by 19%. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.

How Easily Can Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Raise Cash?

Since its revenue growth is moving in the wrong direction, Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings shareholders may wish to think ahead to when the company may need to raise more cash. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. 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 US$811m, Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings' US$21m in cash burn equates to about 2.6% of its market value. So it could almost certainly just borrow a little to fund another year's growth, or else easily raise the cash by issuing a few shares.

So, Should We Worry About Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings' Cash Burn?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings' cash burn. In particular, we think its cash runway stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. While its falling revenue wasn't great, the other factors mentioned in this article more than make up for weakness on that measure. One real positive is that analysts are forecasting that the company will reach breakeven. Looking at all the measures in this article, together, we're not worried about its rate of cash burn; the company seems well on top of its medium-term spending needs. While we always like to monitor cash burn for early stage companies, qualitative factors such as the CEO pay can also shed light on the situation. Click here to see free what the Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings CEO is paid..

Of course Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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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.