Persistent negative free cash flow, averaging $14 million per quarter, combined with a dwindling cash balance of $12.4 million, suggests an imminent liquidity crisis that warrants extreme caution.
Nautilus Biotechnolgy, Inc. (NAUT) cash flow statement — 8-year operating, investing & financing cash flows
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | -50.23M | -50.7M | -59.15M | -51.71M | -45.81M | -39.24M | -14M | -9.66M | -238.3M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Operating CF Growth % | 32.56% | 14.29% | -14.38% | -12.89% | -16.73% | -180.37% | -44.86% | 95.95% | - |
| Net Income | -56.52M | -59M | -70.78M | -63.67M | -57.92M | -50.31M | -15.62M | -9.62M | 626.6M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 5.97M | 6.46M | 6.35M | 5.71M | 3.42M | 2.84M | 2.35M | 548K | 0 |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 5.49M | 6.84M | 12.7M | 12.14M | 10.38M | 7.93M | 369K | 110K | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Non-Cash Items | -456K | -1.42M | -1.96M | -2.66M | -890K | 320K | 295K | -157K | -866.23M |
| Working Capital Changes | -4.71M | -3.58M | -5.46M | -3.22M | -788K | -22K | -1.39M | -545K | 1.33M |
| Change in Receivables | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | -122K | -69K | -578K | 393K | -561K | 1.26M | 123K | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Investing | 27.49M | 35.22M | 66.25M | -43.73M | -25.74M | -138.96M | -25.28M | 4.05M | 1.2M |
| Capital Expenditures | -1.63M | -1.28M | -2.12M | -2.44M | -2.32M | -2.27M | -921K | -926K | 0 |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 855.79% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -11.13M | 0 | -760K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.98M | 1.2M |
| Cash from Financing | 1.45M | 214K | 1.14M | 368K | 562K | 327.45M | 75.9M | 36K | 145.19B |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 1.45M | 214K | 1.14M | 368K | 562K | -7.96M | 75.86M | 0 | 0 |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -874.33K | -1.2M |
| Other Financing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 335.41M | 42K | 36K | 145.19B |
| Net Change in Cash | -21.29M | -15.26M | 8.25M | -95.08M | -70.98M | 149.24M | 36.62M | 595K | 1.2M |
| Free Cash Flow | -51.86M | -51.97M | -61.27M | -54.15M | -48.13M | -41.51M | -14.92M | -10.59M | -238.3M |
| FCF Margin % | -27295.26% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| FCF Growth % | 7.86% | 15.17% | -13.14% | -12.51% | -15.95% | -178.27% | -40.89% | 95.56% | - |
| FCF per Share | -0.41 | -0.41 | -0.49 | -0.43 | -0.39 | -0.49 | -0.45 | -1.75 | -33.15 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 0.92x | 0.86x | 0.84x | 0.81x | 0.79x | 0.78x | 0.90x | 1.00x | -0.38x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying NAUT stock.
Nautilus Biotechnolgy, Inc. (NAUT) generated $-50.7M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Nautilus Biotechnolgy, Inc. (NAUT) reported negative free cash flow of $52.0M in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
Nautilus Biotechnolgy, Inc. (NAUT) spent $1.3M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Imminent Liquidity and Commercialization Risk
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Operating Cash Flow Deficit Persistence
As reported in financial statements, Nautilus Biotechnology consistently exhibits an OCF/NI ratio ranging between 0.80 and 0.90, indicating that the company's cash burn is slightly lower than its accounting losses, primarily due to non-cash adjustments like stock-based compensation and depreciation that do not represent actual cash inflows.
The persistent gap between net income and operating cash flow suggests that the company's accounting losses are partially mitigated by non-cash expenses, yet the underlying cash drain remains substantial. Investors should monitor whether this conversion ratio shifts as the company attempts to transition from R&D to commercial operations, as any decline in this metric could signal rising cash-based operating costs.
Persistent Free Cash Flow Burn
Based on the company's reported figures, Nautilus has maintained a consistent negative free cash flow trajectory, with quarterly outflows averaging approximately $14 million over the last ten quarters, reflecting the heavy capital requirements of its pre-revenue proteomics platform development and the absence of any offsetting product-driven cash generation.
The lack of positive free cash flow is expected for a pre-commercial biotech firm, but the stability of these outflows suggests a rigid cost structure that may be difficult to scale down if funding becomes constrained. This trajectory implies that the company remains entirely dependent on external capital to sustain its current research and development roadmap.
Minimal Capital Expenditure Intensity
According to recent SEC filings, Nautilus maintains remarkably low capital expenditures, with quarterly outlays often falling below $500,000, which suggests that the company has not yet reached the phase of heavy investment in large-scale manufacturing infrastructure required for the commercial production of its proprietary nanofabricated chips.
The low level of capital intensity may indicate that the company is currently utilizing third-party fabrication or pilot-scale facilities rather than investing in its own production capacity. While this preserves cash in the short term, it may imply a significant future capital requirement once the platform moves toward full-scale commercialization.
Stock-Based Compensation Masking Burn
As indicated by the provided data, stock-based compensation has historically accounted for a significant portion of the company's operating expenses, averaging over $2 million per quarter, which effectively obscures the true cash-based cost of retaining the specialized engineering talent necessary for the development of its complex proteomics platform.
While stock-based compensation is a standard tool for talent retention in the biotech sector, its magnitude relative to the company's total cash burn warrants careful scrutiny. Investors should consider that this non-cash expense does not alleviate the immediate liquidity pressure, as the underlying cash burn remains the primary determinant of the company's remaining operational runway.