Liquidity is under severe pressure as free cash flow reached a $21.3 million deficit in 2026Q1, reflecting a rapid contraction of cash reserves from $49.7 million in the prior quarter.
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 | Dec'17 | Dec'16 | Dec'15 | Dec'14 | Dec'13 | Dec'12 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | -62.99M | -56.37M | -35.81M | -37.56M | -26.46M | -34.5M | -23.41M | -15.65M | -23.23M | -22.35M | -23.69M | -17.57M | -9.99M | -6.7M | -8.23M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -338.87% | - | - |
| Operating CF Growth % | -234.16% | -57.41% | 4.66% | -41.95% | 23.32% | -47.4% | -49.6% | 32.66% | -3.94% | 5.64% | -34.85% | -75.84% | -49.04% | 18.59% | - |
| Net Income | -63.31M | -57.44M | -44.6M | -40.42M | -65.95M | -47.25M | -33.98M | -14.99M | -20.73M | -29.96M | -28.53M | -21.38M | -3.34M | -7.91M | -7.97M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 369K | 362K | 332K | 341K | 248K | 117K | 196K | 279K | 115K | 148K | 123K | 57K | 30K | 27K | 57K |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 4.36M | 3.83M | 4.13M | 6.09M | 6.69M | 10.36M | 9.75M | 943K | 3.43M | 926 | 3.34M | 2.16M | 459K | 0 | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -9.94M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Non-Cash Items | -177K | -173K | 324K | 569K | 32.02M | 1.74M | 9.94M | -4K | -76K | 3.39M | 3.69M | 3.57M | -7.25M | 821K | 243K |
| Working Capital Changes | -4.24M | -2.94M | 4.01M | -4.14M | 539K | 534K | 629K | -1.87M | -5.97M | 4.41M | 1.29M | 327K | 109K | 361K | -564K |
| Change in Receivables | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17K | 49K | -46K | -26K | -32K | 0 | 1K | 28K |
| Change in Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -17K | 0 | -41.79M | -63.52M | -83.49M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | 1.72M | -873K | 1.38M | 848K | 631K | 40K | 198K | -2.5M | -6.16M | 4.16M | 1.07M | 1.26M | 955K | 177K | -912K |
| Cash from Investing | -95.86M | -139.49M | 19.16M | 53.11M | 14.95M | -98.19M | 2.83M | 2.48M | 18.43M | -16.1M | 19.92M | -11.33M | -12.48M | 2.73M | 7.38M |
| Capital Expenditures | -50K | -94K | -63K | -45K | -120K | -596K | -884K | -16K | -119K | -35K | -271K | -198K | -51K | -10K | -67K |
| CapEx % of Revenue | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.73% | - | - |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -15.07K | 97.6K | 3.72M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65K | 33K |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.07K | -97.6K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.01M | 0 | 0 | -1K |
| Cash from Financing | 82.13M | 82.72M | 139.87M | -91K | -90K | -228K | 189.4M | 500K | 2.98M | 23.05M | 208K | 163K | 88.52M | 4.36M | -9K |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.67M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.34M | -9K |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 82.4M | 82.9M | 136.01M | -91K | -90K | -228K | 179.45M | 500K | 2.85M | 1.53M | 208K | 163K | 88.52M | 21K | 0 |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | -91K | -90K | -228K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 208K | 163K | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Financing | -272K | -185K | 3.86M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.62M | 0 | 132K | 21.52M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Net Change in Cash | -76.72M | -113.14M | 123.21M | 15.46M | -11.6M | -132.92M | 168.83M | -13.16M | -1.8M | -15.22M | -3.64M | -28.81M | 66.05M | 0 | 0 |
| Free Cash Flow | -63.05M | -56.46M | -35.87M | -37.6M | -26.58M | -35.1M | -24.29M | -15.66M | -23.35M | -22.39M | -23.96M | -17.76M | -10.04M | -6.71M | -8.3M |
| FCF Margin % | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -340.6% | - | - |
| FCF Growth % | -56.64% | -57.39% | 4.6% | -41.48% | 24.28% | -44.49% | -55.1% | 32.93% | -4.31% | 6.56% | -34.87% | -76.91% | -49.58% | 19.13% | - |
| FCF per Share | -1.47 | -1.32 | -1.74 | -3.32 | -2.36 | -3.12 | -3.36 | -3.86 | -9.12 | -51.84 | -57.86 | -43.16 | -30.78 | -17.91 | -22.15 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 1.00x | 0.98x | 0.80x | 0.93x | 0.40x | 0.73x | 0.69x | 1.04x | 0.91x | 0.75x | 0.83x | 0.82x | 2.99x | 0.85x | 1.03x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Clinical trial funding exhaustion
According to quarterly financial statements, Protara's operating cash flow reached a deficit of $21.3 million in 2026Q1, with an OCF/NI ratio of 1.20, suggesting that cash outflows are consistently exceeding reported net losses due to the ongoing requirements of clinical trial development and operational overhead.
The divergence between net income and operating cash flow indicates that non-cash items and working capital fluctuations are not sufficient to offset the underlying cash burn. Investors should monitor this ratio as it highlights the company's reliance on external capital to bridge the gap between accounting losses and actual cash depletion.
As reported in recent filings, the company's free cash flow trajectory remains deeply negative, deteriorating to a $21.3 million outflow in 2026Q1, which underscores the significant capital intensity required to advance the TARA-002 pipeline without any offsetting revenue streams to mitigate the burn.
The consistent negative FCF trend reflects a business model that is currently entirely dependent on external financing. This trajectory suggests that until clinical milestones are achieved, the company will continue to experience significant cash outflows that directly impact the remaining liquidity runway.
Based on the provided cash flow data, working capital changes have been inconsistent, swinging from a $5.1 million outflow in 2026Q1 to a $1.8 million inflow in 2025Q2, which suggests that timing differences in clinical trial payments and vendor management are creating unpredictable quarterly cash requirements.
These fluctuations in working capital appear to be driven by the episodic nature of clinical trial expenses rather than operational efficiency. Analysts should interpret these swings as a reflection of the company's limited control over the timing of large-scale research expenditures.
Data from recent filings reveals that stock-based compensation consistently adds back approximately $1.0 million to $1.5 million per quarter, which effectively masks the true cash-based operating burn by reducing the reported net loss without providing a corresponding cash inflow to the company's balance sheet.
While stock-based compensation is a standard practice in biotechnology, it is important to distinguish between accounting expenses and actual cash outflows. The persistent use of equity-based incentives suggests that the company is attempting to preserve cash, though this strategy does not fundamentally alter the underlying cash burn rate.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying TARA stock.
Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (TARA) generated $-56.4M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (TARA) reported negative free cash flow of $56.5M in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (TARA) spent $0.1M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.