Persistent Negative Operating And Free Cash FlowChronic negative operating and free cash flow forces ongoing external financing, increasing dilution or reliance on partners. Over months this limits the company’s ability to self-fund exploration or development, raises liquidity risk in downturns, and constrains capital allocation flexibility.
Extreme Revenue And Earnings VolatilitySuch sharp swings undermine revenue predictability and make project economics and funding plans harder to assess. For an explorer/developer this volatility reflects episodic monetization and raises execution and pricing risk, deterring long-term investors and complicating multi-period planning.
Inconsistent Profitability/returns On Shareholders' CapitalIrregular returns indicate uneven value creation from assets or uneven capital allocation. Over a multi-month horizon this signals management and project execution variability, reducing confidence in the firm’s ability to sustainably generate returns and hindering access to low-cost capital.