We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. Indeed, Y-mAbs Therapeutics (NASDAQ:YMAB) stock is up 359% in the last year, providing strong gains for shareholders. But while the successes are well known, investors should not ignore the very many unprofitable companies that simply burn through all their cash and collapse.

In light of its strong share price run, we think now is a good time to investigate how risky Y-mAbs Therapeutics' cash burn is. 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. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.

How Long Is Y-mAbs Therapeutics' 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. As at December 2023, Y-mAbs Therapeutics had cash of US$79m and no debt. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through US$27m. That means it had a cash runway of about 2.9 years as of December 2023. Arguably, that's a prudent and sensible length of runway to have. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.

How Well Is Y-mAbs Therapeutics Growing?

Y-mAbs Therapeutics managed to reduce its cash burn by 64% over the last twelve months, which suggests it's on the right flight path. And revenue is up 30% in that same period; also a good sign. It seems to be growing nicely. 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.

Can Y-mAbs Therapeutics Raise More Cash Easily?

We are certainly impressed with the progress Y-mAbs Therapeutics has made over the last year, but it is also worth considering how costly it would be if it wanted to raise more cash to fund faster growth. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. 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.

Y-mAbs Therapeutics has a market capitalisation of US$818m and burnt through US$27m last year, which is 3.3% of the company's market value. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.

Is Y-mAbs Therapeutics' Cash Burn A Worry?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Y-mAbs Therapeutics' cash burn. For example, we think its cash runway suggests that the company is on a good path. But it's fair to say that its revenue growth was also very reassuring. 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. On another note, we conducted an in-depth investigation of the company, and identified 4 warning signs for Y-mAbs Therapeutics (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.