VGZ

Vista Gold is a development-stage company that, by its own words, "does not currently generate cash flows from mining operations" — and the numbers confirm it: $0 revenue in every year from FY2021-FY2025, a FY2025 net loss of $7.50M ($-0.06 EPS), and negative operating cash flow of $6.61M. The lone FY2024 "profit" of $11.2M was not operating income; it came from a one-time $16.9M gain on granting a royalty interest, so the underlying business has never earned money. You are not buying earnings here — you are buying the Mt Todd option.

The balance sheet is the redeeming feature and the reason this isn't an outright avoid: $13.6M cash, working capital of $13.06M, essentially no debt (liabilities/equity just 0.08x), and stockholders' equity of $15.1M. That clean, unlevered position buys time. But it is shrinking — cash fell 19.6%, total assets fell 14.2%, and the company is funding the burn by diluting: shares outstanding rose 17.1% YoY, with $4.30M raised under the ATM program in 2025. At roughly $6.6M of annual cash burn, existing cash is on the order of two years of runway before more dilution or a financing event is forced.