One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$20.31 our estimate vs market $40.26
Wall Street consensus: $59.71 (194.1% higher than our fair-value estimate)
98% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Vericel Corporation
VCEL · NGM · Healthcare · Biotechnology
Current price
$40.26
52-week range
$28.95 - $49.32
Market cap
$2.06B
Balance sheet
Healthy
17.53x Strong cushion
Net cash $69.33M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 10.9% last year.
- Reward Returns 7.2% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 5/10 years.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 1.2% (peer median: 1.2%).
What this company does
Vericel Corporation
Vericel Corporation sells advanced medical treatments that help the body heal itself, like cell-based products for sports injuries and severe burns. Most of their money comes from selling these specialized therapies, which is important because it shows their unique medical solutions are in demand. This focus on innovative treatments is what drives their business forward.
How the company got here
Vericel Corporation, originally founded as Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. in 1989, has evolved significantly over the years. The company rebranded to Vericel Corporation in November 2014, marking a strategic shift. This transformation was driven by a focus on developing and commercializing advanced cell therapies for specific medical needs, moving away from its earlier research-focused roots. Headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, Vericel has carved out a niche in the biopharmaceutical landscape by concentrating on regenerative medicine solutions.
What it actually does
Vericel develops and sells specialized biological products derived from a patient's own cells, primarily for treating injuries in sports medicine and for severe burn care. Think of it like using a person's own building blocks to help repair damaged tissues. These are not typical pills or injections; instead, they are advanced therapies designed to help the body heal itself more effectively. The company focuses on creating treatments for conditions where existing options may be limited or less effective.
Sports Medicine
Within its sports medicine offerings, Vericel's main product is MACI. This therapy is designed to repair cartilage defects in the knee, which are common injuries for athletes or active individuals. It works by using a patient's own cartilage cells, which are grown in a lab and then placed back onto a special membrane to help rebuild the damaged area. This segment addresses the need for advanced solutions to help people recover from knee injuries and return to their activities.
Severe Burn Care
In the severe burn care market, Vericel provides two key products: Epicel and NexoBrid. Epicel is a permanent skin replacement therapy for patients with extensive deep-skin burns, using the patient's own skin cells to create grafts. NexoBrid is a biological product used to remove dead tissue (eschar) from burn wounds, preparing the area for healing or further treatment. These therapies are crucial for managing life-threatening burn injuries and improving patient outcomes.
What management is betting on now
Vericel's current strategy centers on expanding the reach and adoption of its existing cell therapy products, MACI for sports medicine and its burn care treatments. Management is focused on increasing physician awareness and patient access to these innovative therapies. They are also likely investing in research and development to potentially enhance current products or explore new applications for their cell-based technology. The goal is to solidify Vericel's position as a leader in regenerative medicine for specific, high-need medical areas.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$-9.22M
FY2024 Q4
$8.46M
FY2025 Q1
$-7.61M
FY2025 Q2
$81.00K
FY2025 Q3
$19.45M
FY2025 Q4
$12.83M
FY2026 Q1
$15.13M
FY2026 Q2
$14.26M
Revenue
$77.46M
Net income
$2.21M
Diluted EPS
0.04
Operating cash flow
$16.19M
Free cash flow
$14.26M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$68.42M
Net income
$-6.30M
Diluted EPS
-0.12
Operating cash flow
$16.38M
Free cash flow
$15.13M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$92.92M
Net income
$23.24M
Diluted EPS
0.46
Operating cash flow
$15.01M
Free cash flow
$12.83M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$67.50M
Net income
$5.07M
Diluted EPS
0.10
Operating cash flow
$22.08M
Free cash flow
$19.45M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$63.24M
Net income
$-553.00K
Diluted EPS
-0.01
Operating cash flow
$8.21M
Free cash flow
$81.00K
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$52.60M
Net income
$-11.25M
Diluted EPS
-0.23
Operating cash flow
$6.60M
Free cash flow
$-7.61M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$75.38M
Net income
$19.81M
Diluted EPS
0.40
Operating cash flow
$22.24M
Free cash flow
$8.46M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$57.91M
Net income
$-901.00K
Diluted EPS
-0.02
Operating cash flow
$10.18M
Free cash flow
$-9.22M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $20.31 vs current price $40.26
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $59.71 (194.1% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $20.31 a share — about 49.6% below today's price of $40.26, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $69.3M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage 17.5x.
Net debt
$-69.33M
Interest coverage
17.53x
Vericel Corporation's profit covers its interest bill about 17.5 times over. which is stronger 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
VCEL
BASELINE
Vericel Corporation
Total debt $93.13M Interest coverage 17.53x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $203.84M Interest coverage 26.93x +54% vs VCEL Carries about 1.5x more debt cushion than VCEL.
Total debt $109.78M Interest coverage -9.33x -100% vs VCEL This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with VCEL.
Total debt $170.11M Interest coverage -5.56x -100% vs VCEL This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with VCEL.
Total debt $203.83M Interest coverage -55.80x -100% vs VCEL This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with VCEL.
Total debt $16.01M Interest coverage -6.93x -100% vs VCEL This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with VCEL.
What you should know
The case for and against VCEL
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 10.9% last year.
-
Returns 7.2% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 5/10 years.
Risks
-
Insider ownership is only 1.2% (peer median: 1.2%).
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)
85.66x
Forward P/E
47.59x
P/B
5.57x
P/S
6.73x
EV/EBITDA
63.95x
PEG ratio
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Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
74.6%
Operating margin
0.6%
Net margin
7.9%
ROE
7.2%
ROA
2.4%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.25x
Current ratio
5.04x
Quick ratio
4.53x
Total debt
$93.13M
Total cash
$162.46M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$306.30M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
15.3%
EPS TTM
0.47
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$69.67M
Free CF TTM
$24.75M
FCF margin
8.1%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.0%
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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