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Companies Like C3.ai (NYSE:AI) Can Afford To Invest In Growth

Companies Like C3.ai (NYSE:AI) Can Afford To Invest In Growth

像 C3.ai(紐約證券交易所代碼:AI)這樣的公司有能力投資增長
Simply Wall St ·  05/21 22:04

We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. 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 history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

我們很容易理解爲什麼投資者會被無利可圖的公司所吸引。例如,儘管亞馬遜在上市後連續多年虧損,但如果你自1999年以來購買並持有股票,你本可以發大財。但是,儘管歷史稱讚這些罕見的成功,但失敗的成功往往會被遺忘;誰還記得Pets.com呢?

So, the natural question for C3.ai (NYSE:AI) 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.

因此,C3.ai(紐約證券交易所代碼:AI)股東面臨的自然問題是他們是否應該擔心其現金消耗率。就本文而言,我們將現金消耗定義爲公司每年爲其增長提供資金的現金金額(也稱爲負自由現金流)。首先,我們將將其現金消耗與現金儲備進行比較,以計算其現金流量。

How Long Is C3.ai's Cash Runway?

C3.ai 的 Cash Runway 有多長?

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 January 2024, C3.ai had US$723m in cash, and was debt-free. In the last year, its cash burn was US$93m. Therefore, from January 2024 it had 7.8 years of cash runway. Notably, however, analysts think that C3.ai will break even (at a free cash flow level) before then. If that happens, then the length of its cash runway, today, would become a moot point. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

現金流道的定義是,如果公司保持目前的現金消耗率,則需要多長時間才能耗盡資金。2024 年 1 月,C3.ai 擁有7.23億美元的現金,並且沒有債務。去年,其現金消耗爲9300萬美元。因此,從2024年1月起,它的現金流爲7.8年。然而,值得注意的是,分析師認爲,在此之前,C3.ai 將實現收支平衡(在自由現金流水平上)。如果發生這種情況,那麼今天其現金跑道的長度將成爲一個有爭議的問題。下圖顯示了其現金餘額在過去幾年中的變化。

debt-equity-history-analysis
NYSE:AI Debt to Equity History May 21st 2024
紐約證券交易所:AI 債務與股本的比率歷史 2024 年 5 月 21 日

How Well Is C3.ai Growing?

C3.ai 的增長情況如何?

C3.ai managed to reduce its cash burn by 57% over the last twelve months, which suggests it's on the right flight path. And while hardly exciting, it was still good to see revenue growth of 11% during that time. We think it is growing rather well, upon reflection. 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.

在過去的十二個月中,C3.ai 設法將其現金消耗減少了57%,這表明它走上了正確的飛行道路。儘管不令人興奮,但在此期間收入增長11%仍然是件好事。經過反思,我們認爲它的增長相當不錯。雖然過去總是值得研究的,但最重要的是未來。出於這個原因,看看我們的分析師對公司的預測很有意義。

How Easily Can C3.ai Raise Cash?

C3.ai 如何輕鬆籌集資金?

While C3.ai seems to be in a decent position, we reckon it is still worth thinking about how easily it could raise more cash, if that proved desirable. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. One of the main advantages held by publicly listed companies is that they can sell shares to investors to raise cash and fund 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.

儘管 C3.ai 似乎處於不錯的境地,但我們認爲如果事實證明可取的話,它能多麼容易地籌集更多現金,還是值得考慮的。公司可以通過債務或股權籌集資金。上市公司的主要優勢之一是,它們可以向投資者出售股票以籌集現金和爲增長提供資金。我們可以將公司的現金消耗與其市值進行比較,以了解公司必須發行多少新股才能爲一年的運營提供資金。

C3.ai has a market capitalisation of US$3.2b and burnt through US$93m last year, which is 2.9% of the company's 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.

C3.ai 的市值爲32億美元,去年燒掉了9300萬美元,佔公司市值的2.9%。這意味着它可以輕鬆發行幾股股票來爲更多的增長提供資金,並且很可能有能力廉價地借款。

So, Should We Worry About C3.ai's Cash Burn?

那麼,我們應該擔心 C3.ai 的現金消耗嗎?

It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way C3.ai is burning through its cash. For example, we think its cash runway suggests that the company is on a good path. On this analysis its revenue growth was its weakest feature, but we are not concerned about it. It's clearly very positive to see that analysts are forecasting the company will break even fairly soon. After considering a range of factors in this article, we're pretty relaxed about its cash burn, since the company seems to be in a good position to continue to fund its growth. Taking a deeper dive, we've spotted 3 warning signs for C3.ai you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.

你可能已經很明顯,我們對 C3.ai 消耗現金的方式相對滿意。例如,我們認爲其現金流表明該公司走上了一條不錯的道路。根據這項分析,其收入增長是其最薄弱的特徵,但我們對此並不擔心。分析師預測該公司將很快實現收支平衡,這顯然是非常積極的。在考慮了本文中的一系列因素之後,我們對其現金消耗感到非常放鬆,因爲該公司似乎處於繼續爲其增長提供資金的有利地位。深入研究,我們發現了 3 個你應該注意的 C3.ai 警告信號,其中 1 個讓我們有點不舒服。

Of course C3.ai 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 with high insider ownership.

當然,C3.ai 可能不是最值得購買的股票。因此,你可能希望看到這份擁有高股本回報率的公司的免費集合,或者這份內部所有權高的股票清單。

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.

對這篇文章有反饋嗎?對內容感到擔憂?直接聯繫我們。 或者,給編輯團隊 (at) simplywallst.com 發送電子郵件。
Simply Wall St的這篇文章本質上是籠統的。我們僅使用公正的方法根據歷史數據和分析師的預測提供評論,我們的文章無意作爲財務建議。它不構成買入或賣出任何股票的建議,也沒有考慮到您的目標或財務狀況。我們的目標是爲您提供由基本數據驅動的長期重點分析。請注意,我們的分析可能不考慮最新的價格敏感型公司公告或定性材料。簡而言之,華爾街沒有持有任何上述股票的頭寸。

譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。


以上內容僅用作資訊或教育之目的,不構成與富途相關的任何投資建議。富途竭力但無法保證上述全部內容的真實性、準確性和原創性。
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