When is ASX tech share BrainChip expected to become profitable?

BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN), like most tech companies in an early growth cycle, burns cash quarter to quarter.

The company announced it had spent 8.9% of its US$31.2 million total cash balance in its Q2 quarterly activities report posted on July 27. Meanwhile, cash receipts totalled $US1.2 million, up 500% from the previous quarter.

An influx of cash is a head start, but the question likely to be on most investors' minds is, when will BrainChip generate earnings?

This is hard to say as a high-growth ASX tech stock in neuromorphic computing. Wall Street hasn't taken a stab at answering this question either, with only one analyst rating the stock as a buy at the time of writing.

What we can do, though, is revise its recent commercialisation efforts as it progresses in the business cycle from startup to growth. These are signs of where the company is headed in the future and provide clues to when profitability will eventuate.

What did BrainChip announce?

Commercialisation was a key focus in its quarterly activities report, which was covered by my Foolish colleague Aaron.

The company made headway in developing its AkidaTM neuromorphic IP via several avenues, including technical scoping with several potential clients. Technical scoping is typically one of the first steps companies establish before the money exchanges hands, so this could suggest further deals are in the making.

More explicit progress was made by establishing commercial partnerships with tech companies Arm, SiFive, and Prophesee.

In a press release jointly published by SiFive and BrainChip, it was announced the companies had joined forces to offer processors that deliver BrainChip's artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, known as edge computing.

BrainChip also started preliminary partnerships with AI companies Impulse and NVISO.

BrainChip share price snapshot

The BrainChip share price is up 30% year to date. On Friday, shares closed 1.9% lower at $1.03.

The company's market capitalisation is roughly $1.81 billion.