Comment by VoidWhisperer

4 days ago

They were expecting to be cash flow positive in Jan 2025, according to [0]. That said, it is hard to tell if they actually became cash flow positive since with them still being a private company, they aren't required to release that information.

[0]: https://www.databricks.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/d...

Whenever companies release glowing fluff PR about their amazing financials they key word in there is “non-GAAP.”

i.e. when we exclude a bunch of pesky costs and other expenses that are the reason we’re not doing so well, we’re actually doing really well!

Non-GAAP has its place, but if used to say the company is doing well (vs like actual accounting) that’s usually not a good sign. Real healthy companies don’t need to hide behind non-GAAP.

  • Yes but free cash flow is free cash flow, and that's what matters for survival (i.e. run-rate). So long as fcf is positive, you'll never go bankrupt.

    Really what they don't tell you is how much SBC they have. That's what crushes public tech stocks so much. They'll have nice fcf, but when you look under the hood you realize they're diluting you by 5% every year. Take a look at MongoDB (picked one randomly). It went public in 2016 with 48.9m shares outstanding. Today, it has 81.7m shares outstanding. 67% dilution in 9 years.