There’s no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. 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 CapsoVision (NASDAQ:CV) shareholders should be worried about its 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). Let’s start with an examination of the business’ cash, relative to its cash burn.
You can calculate a company’s cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. When CapsoVision last reported its September 2025 balance sheet in November 2025, it had zero debt and cash worth US$18m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through US$21m. That means it had a cash runway of around 10 months as of September 2025. That’s quite a short cash runway, indicating the company must either reduce its annual cash burn or replenish its cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.
See our latest analysis for CapsoVision
Some investors might find it troubling that CapsoVision is actually increasing its cash burn, which is up 14% in the last year. The revenue growth of 11% gives a ray of hope, at the very least. Considering both these factors, we’re not particularly excited by its growth profile. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.
Since CapsoVision has been boosting its cash burn, the market will likely be considering how it can raise more cash if need be. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. 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.
