Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. 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. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.

So, the natural question for Marker Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MRKR) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of cash burn. In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

How Long Is Marker Therapeutics' Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. In June 2026, Marker Therapeutics had US$11m in cash, and was debt-free. Importantly, its cash burn was US$9.8m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of approximately 14 months from June 2026. 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. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Well Is Marker Therapeutics Growing?

Marker Therapeutics reduced its cash burn by 10% during the last year, which points to some degree of discipline. Unfortunately, however, operating revenue declined by 47% during the period. Taken together, we think these growth metrics are a little worrying. 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.

Can Marker Therapeutics Raise More Cash Easily?

Since Marker Therapeutics revenue has been falling, the market will likely be considering how it can raise more cash if need be. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive 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.

Marker Therapeutics' cash burn of US$9.8m is about 42% of its US$23m market capitalisation. That's high expenditure relative to the value of the entire company, so if it does have to issue shares to fund more growth, that could end up really hurting shareholders returns (through significant dilution).

Is Marker Therapeutics' Cash Burn A Worry?

Even though its falling revenue makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought Marker Therapeutics' cash burn reduction was relatively promising. Looking at the factors mentioned in this short report, we do think that its cash burn is a bit risky, and it does make us slightly nervous about the stock. On another note, Marker Therapeutics has 4 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

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

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.