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. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Generation Bio (NASDAQ:GBIO) 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. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

How Long Is Generation Bio's Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. In September 2024, Generation Bio had US$185m in cash, and was debt-free. Importantly, its cash burn was US$104m over the trailing twelve months. Therefore, from September 2024 it had roughly 21 months of cash runway. That's not too bad, but it's fair to say the end of the cash runway is in sight, unless cash burn reduces drastically. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

How Well Is Generation Bio Growing?

Generation Bio actually ramped up its cash burn by a whopping 92% in the last year, which shows it is boosting investment in the business. But shareholders are no doubt taking some confidence from the rockstar revenue growth of 514% during that same year. On balance, we'd say the company is improving over time. 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 Hard Would It Be For Generation Bio To Raise More Cash For Growth?

Even though it seems like Generation Bio is developing its business nicely, we still like to consider how easily it could raise more money to accelerate growth. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future 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.

In the last year, Generation Bio burned through US$104m, which is just about equal to its US$103m market cap. That suggests the company may have some funding difficulties, and we'd be very wary of the stock.

So, Should We Worry About Generation Bio's Cash Burn?

On this analysis of Generation Bio's cash burn, we think its revenue growth was reassuring, while its cash burn relative to its market cap has us a bit worried. Summing up, we think the Generation Bio's cash burn is a risk, based on the factors we mentioned in this article. An in-depth examination of risks revealed 2 warning signs for Generation Bio that readers should think about before committing capital to this stock.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

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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.