Cerus
CERS on Nasdaq. Cerus sells systems that kill pathogens in donated blood to blood banks and hospitals. Market value $472m.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
We can't read total debt from the filing, so debt is left out.
Should I look at this?
Not a fit for our list right now
Why it could be worth it
Nothing stands out yet.
See Health care stocks that passed both tests
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $-0.39 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
The filings do not give us enough to work this out.
The filings do not give us enough to work this out.
Quality score: 48 of 100. Price score: 0 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$2.34 a share, 70% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $1.38 to $3.47.
Pays no dividend
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
Spare cash swings from quarter to quarter here: a shortfall of $2 million in the past 12 months, $1 million in the year to December 2025.
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $160m | $188m | $187m | $201m | $234m |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | -30.7% | -18.1% | -16.1% | -7.1% | -3.7% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.18bn | 0.18bn | 0.19bn | 0.19bn | 0.20bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive2 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Not enough data
- Financial strength (Piotroski)3 of 7 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- DebtUnknown
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 15.4% a year
- Buying back its own sharesNo, 14% more shares since 2021
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $57 million last quarter, up 10% on a year ago.
- A loss of $3 million, compared with a loss of $6 million a year ago.
- Over the past 12 months it spent $2 million more cash than it brought in. A year earlier it had $3 million spare.
- 5% more shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit less of the company.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | -$3m |
| December 2024 | -$3m |
| March 2025 | -$8m |
| June 2025 | -$6m |
| September 2025 | -$19,000 |
| December 2025 | -$2m |
| March 2026 | -$2m |
| June 2026 | -$3m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 2 March 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 29 October 2026
Who owns it
1 long-term investor we follow owns it, unchanged from 1 last quarter. 185 funds in all.
- First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners
- Value
- $239,440
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners | $239,440 | <0.1% |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$65mAdded
- ARK Investment Management$52mCut
- Vanguard Capital Management$25mAdded
- Baker Bros. Advisors LP$19mCut
- D. E. Shaw$16mAdded
- Geode Capital Management$15mAdded
- State Street$14mAdded
- Senvest Management$13mAdded
- Acadian Asset Management$12mAdded
- Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group$12mCut
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
3 investors own more than 5%.
- ARK Investment Management LLCPassive investorat least 8.9%−1.1 pts(filed with 1 related holder)Since 30 June 2026
- Baker Bros. Advisors LPPassive investorat least 3.2%−2.0 pts(filed with 3 related holders)Since 30 June 2026
- Soleus Capital Master Fund, L.P.Passive investorat least 1.2%−3.9 pts(filed with 5 related holders)Since 30 June 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
ARK Investment Management LLC Passive investor | at least 8.9%−1.1 pts (filed with 1 related holder) | 30 June 2026 | |
Baker Bros. Advisors LP Passive investor | at least 3.2%−2.0 pts (filed with 3 related holders) | 30 June 2026 | |
Soleus Capital Master Fund, L.P. Passive investor | at least 1.2%−3.9 pts (filed with 5 related holders) | 30 June 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 6 sold $3m, $3m of it under preset trading plans.
- Jensen ChrystalChief Legal OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 17 August 2026
- Shares
- 30,000
- Price
- $2.98
- Value
- $89,529
- Jayaraman Vivek KChief Executive OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 16 July 2026
- Shares
- 16,666
- Price
- $3.16
- Value
- $52,665
- Jayaraman Vivek KChief Operating OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 30 June 2026
- Shares
- 42,359
- Price
- $2.94
- Value
- $124,658
- Jensen ChrystalChief Legal OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 30 June 2026
- Shares
- 24,329
- Price
- $2.94
- Value
- $71,598
- Green Kevin DennisChief Financial OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 30 June 2026
- Shares
- 33,676
- Price
- $2.94
- Value
- $99,105
- Greenman William MarinerPresident and CEO, DirectorSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 30 June 2026
- Shares
- 101,919
- Price
- $2.94
- Value
- $299,937
- BJERKHOLT ERICDirectorSold
- Date
- 9 June 2026
- Shares
- 20,454
- Price
- $2.60
- Value
- $53,180
- Jayaraman Vivek KChief Operating OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 29 May 2026
- Shares
- 16,667
- Price
- $3.00
- Value
- $50,001
- Jayaraman Vivek KChief Operating OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 1 May 2026
- Shares
- 16,667
- Price
- $3.00
- Value
- $50,001
- Jayaraman Vivek KChief Operating OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 12 March 2026
- Shares
- 165,200
- Price
- $1.66
- Value
- $274,232
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 August 2026 | Jensen Chrystal Chief Legal Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 30,000 | $2.98 | $89,529 |
| 16 July 2026 | Jayaraman Vivek K Chief Executive Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 16,666 | $3.16 | $52,665 |
| 30 June 2026 | Jayaraman Vivek K Chief Operating Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 42,359 | $2.94 | $124,658 |
| 30 June 2026 | Jensen Chrystal Chief Legal Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 24,329 | $2.94 | $71,598 |
| 30 June 2026 | Green Kevin Dennis Chief Financial Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 33,676 | $2.94 | $99,105 |
| 30 June 2026 | Greenman William Mariner President and CEO, Director | Sold under a preset trading plan | 101,919 | $2.94 | $299,937 |
| 9 June 2026 | BJERKHOLT ERIC Director | Sold | 20,454 | $2.60 | $53,180 |
| 29 May 2026 | Jayaraman Vivek K Chief Operating Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 16,667 | $3.00 | $50,001 |
| 1 May 2026 | Jayaraman Vivek K Chief Operating Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 16,667 | $3.00 | $50,001 |
| 12 March 2026 | Jayaraman Vivek K Chief Operating Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 165,200 | $1.66 | $274,232 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the serious warning signs we check for were found. 1 thing worth knowing.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 2 Mar 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 30 Jul 2026 and 7 later 8-Ks.
One big customer
Worth knowingOne customer brings in a big share of sales: 33% last year. Losing that customer would hurt.
“The Company had the following significant customers that accounted for more than 10% of the Company’s total product revenue, during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 (in percentages): Year Ended December 31, 2025 | 2024 | 2023 American Red Cross | 33% | 35% | 35%”
From the 10-K filed 2 March 2026, Item 8. Financial Statements and Notes (table). Read it in the filing
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
Cheap for a reason is the question the numbers cannot answer.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.