One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$4.29 our estimate vs market $1.17
Wall Street consensus: $4.83 (12.5% higher than our fair-value estimate)
73% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Cellectis S.A.
CLLS · NGM · Healthcare · Biotechnology
Current price
$1.17
52-week range
$0.88 - $5.45
Market cap
$117.86M
Balance sheet
Healthy
-4.08x Concerning
Net cash $86.34M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
2 Rewards
2 Risks
2 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 75.8% last year.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 1/10 years.
- Risk Return on equity was -94.5% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 5.8%).
What this company does
Cellectis S.A.
Cellectis is a company working on new treatments for serious diseases like cancer by using a special gene-editing technology. Their main money comes from selling these advanced medical treatments and potentially from partnerships with other drug companies, which matters because it shows how their scientific discoveries might become successful medicines.
How the company got here
Cellectis was founded in 1999 by André Choulika, building on research in gene editing using a technology called Meganuclease. The company went public in 2007 and grew through acquisitions, including one for electroporation technology and another for a Swedish biotech firm. Initially, Cellectis focused on its Meganuclease technology, but with the rise of CRISPR gene editing, the company faced financial difficulties around 2013. It underwent a significant restructuring, shifting its focus to developing CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell) therapies for cancer immunotherapy. This pivot was supported by major financing deals with pharmaceutical companies like Servier, Pfizer, and Allogene, allowing Cellectis to raise substantial capital through stock offerings in the following years.
What it actually does
Cellectis is a biotechnology company that uses gene-editing technology to develop potential new medicines. Their primary focus has been on creating cell and gene therapies, particularly for cancer. They engineer T-cells, which are a type of immune cell, to recognize and attack cancer cells. Cellectis pioneered the concept of "off-the-shelf" CAR-T therapies, meaning these treatments are made from healthy donor cells and can be used immediately without needing to be customized for each patient. This contrasts with "autologous" therapies that use a patient's own cells, a more complex and time-consuming process.
Therapeutics (Immuno-oncology)
This part of Cellectis' business focuses on developing CAR-T cell therapies to treat certain types of cancer, particularly blood cancers. They engineer T-cells (a type of white blood cell that fights infection) to have a "chimeric antigen receptor" (CAR) on their surface. This CAR acts like a homing device, allowing the T-cell to find and destroy cancer cells that have specific markers (antigens) on them. Cellectis' approach uses T-cells from healthy donors, making them "allogeneic" or "off-the-shelf" therapies, which can be manufactured in advance and used when needed. Key product candidates in this area have included lasme-cel for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and eti-cel for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), though the company has recently announced a strategic shift away from these specific programs.
In Vivo Gene Editing (New Focus)
Cellectis is undergoing a strategic transformation to focus on "in vivo" gene editing, meaning they aim to make genetic changes directly inside the body. This new direction leverages their expertise in gene editing to develop long-lasting treatments for chronic diseases, particularly those related to cardiovascular health. Their lead programs, HEAL-101 and HEAL-201, use advanced gene editing techniques like base editing and epigenetic editing to target genes that influence triglyceride and cholesterol levels. The goal is to create therapies that can provide significant and lasting benefits with a single treatment, moving beyond managing symptoms to potentially offering a cure.
Collaboration Agreements & Licenses
Cellectis generates revenue through partnerships with other companies. These "collaboration agreements" involve payments, services, and royalties from licensing their gene-editing technologies and products. Essentially, other pharmaceutical and biotech companies pay Cellectis for the right to use their patented technologies or develop products based on them. This segment represents a significant way Cellectis monetizes its research and development efforts, allowing it to fund further innovation while also benefiting from the expertise and market reach of its partners.
What management is betting on now
Cellectis' management is now heavily focused on its "in vivo" gene editing platform, aiming to develop novel treatments for chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular conditions. This strategic shift involves advancing their HEAL-101 and HEAL-201 programs, which target key genes involved in regulating cholesterol and triglycerides. The company believes this approach, which makes genetic changes directly within the body, offers the potential for long-lasting therapeutic effects. By concentrating on this area, Cellectis aims to leverage its core gene-editing capabilities to address significant unmet medical needs and extend its cash runway into the latter half of 2028, providing financial flexibility for development.
Price history
How the share price has moved
—
Loading price history…
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $4.29 vs current price $1.17
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $4.83 (12.5% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $4.29 a share — about 266.6% above today's price of $1.17, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $86.3M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage -4.1x.
Net debt
$-86.34M
Interest coverage
-4.08x
Cellectis S.A.'s profit covers its interest bill about 0.0 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here and 4 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
CLLS
BASELINE
Cellectis S.A.
Total debt $80.35M Interest coverage -4.08x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $76.94M Interest coverage -192.50x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $26.34M Interest coverage -17,024.25x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $27.72M Interest coverage -36.67x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $15.51M Interest coverage -16.10x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
What you should know
The case for and against CLLS
2 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 75.8% last year.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 1/10 years.
Risks
-
Return on equity was -94.5% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
-
Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 5.8%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
—
Forward P/E
-1.89x
P/B
2.07x
P/S
1.85x
EV/EBITDA
0.10x
PEG ratio
—
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
100.0%
Operating margin
-340.7%
Net margin
-102.3%
ROE
-94.5%
ROA
-11.7%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
1.96x
Current ratio
1.37x
Quick ratio
1.34x
Total debt
$80.35M
Total cash
$166.69M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$63.82M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
56.1%
EPS TTM
-0.64
EPS 5Y CAGR
—
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$-39.40M
Free CF TTM
$-42.93M
FCF margin
-67.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.0%
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
—