We Think Kopin (NASDAQ:KOPN) Can Easily Afford To Drive Business Growth Simply Wall St. 12-14 20:24 高平电子.US -3.23% There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. Indeed,Kopin(NASDAQ:KOPN) stock is up 156% in the last year, providing strong gains for shareholders. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com? Given its strong share price performance, we think it's worthwhile for Kopin shareholders to consider whether its cash burn is concerning. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn. View our latest analysis for KopinDoes Kopin Have A Long Cash Runway? A company's cash runway is the amount of time it would take to burn through its cash reserves at its current cash burn rate. When Kopin last reported its balance sheet in September 2021, it had zero debt and cash worth US$32m. Importantly, its cash burn was US$8.3m over the trailing twelve months. That means it had a cash runway of about 3.8 years as of September 2021. There's no doubt that this is a reassuringly long runway. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.NasdaqCM:KOPN Debt to Equity History December 14th 2021How Well Is Kopin Growing? We reckon the fact that Kopin managed to shrink its cash burn by 24% over the last year is rather encouraging. On top of that, operating revenue was up 33%, making for a heartening combination We think it is growing rather well, upon reflection. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.How Hard Would It Be For Kopin To Raise More Cash For Growth? We are certainly impressed with the progress Kopin 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. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. 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. Kopin's cash burn of US$8.3m is about 2.1% of its US$388m market capitalisation. That means it could easily issue a few shares to fund more growth, and might well be in a position to borrow cheaply.Is Kopin's Cash Burn A Worry? It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Kopin is burning through its cash. In particular, we think its cash runway stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. And even though its cash burn reduction wasn't quite as impressive, it was still a positive. Looking at all the measures in this article, together, we're not worried about its rate of cash burn; the company seems well on top of its medium-term spending needs