Vericel Corporation Common Stock (VCEL)

FairStock Score: 37/100 — MIXED

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I approach Vericel as a commercial-stage biotechnology business selling cellular therapies for sports medicine and burn care, not as a speculative pipeline story. The filed numbers show a real franchise: revenue rose from $197.5M in fiscal 2023 to $237.2M in fiscal 2024 and $276.3M in fiscal 2025, while net income went from a loss of $3.2M in fiscal 2023 to $10.4M in fiscal 2024 and $16.5M in fiscal 2025. That is the kind of turnaround the Lynch category labels a TURNAROUND. The business description suggests a specialized niche, but the returns on capital are modest; I do not see a wide moat in these figures. The balance sheet is respectable, with debt-to-equity of 0.25, an Altman Z-Score of 8.93, and trailing free cash flow of $61.7M. Piotroski F-Score of 7/9 supports improving fundamentals. But I must be disciplined on price. At the 2026-10-13 close of $40.30, the FairStock P/E is 83.96, P/B is 5.57, EV/EBITDA is 52.56, and FCF yield is only 3.0%. The Graham Number is $8.84, implying a margin of safety of -355.88%. ROE is 7.16% and ROCE is 2.43%, modest for the multiple. The latest quarter ended 2026-06-30 showed revenue of $77.5M and net income of $2.2M, a 2.85% margin, while the quarter ended 2026-03-31 had a net loss of $6.3M. Growth is promising, but earnings are thin and lumpy. As Graham would say, the margin of safety is absent. I would want much better profitability and cash returns before calling this a bargain.

In plain English: Vericel sells cell-based treatments used in knee cartilage repair and severe burn care. Its sales are growing and it has returned to profit after earlier losses, but profit margins are thin and some quarters still show losses. At $40.30 on 2026-10-13, the stock looks expensive compared with current profits, accounting value, and cash flow, even though the growth profile is better than the profit history.

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Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-06-30) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-03-31) · fiscal Q3 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-09-30) · fiscal Q2 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-06-30) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-12-31) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-12-31) · FY2023 10-K (period ended 2023-12-31)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer