Vericel
VCEL on Nasdaq. Vericel sells knee cartilage repair and burn treatments to surgeons and hospitals. Market value $2.1bn.
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
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 $2.93 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: 56 of 100. Price score: 39 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$41.07 a share, 42% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $28.95 to $49.32.
Pays no dividend
Prices from Monday’s close (5 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
Spare cash swings from quarter to quarter here: $62 million in the past 12 months, $25 million in the year to December 2025.
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $156m | $164m | $198m | $237m | $276m |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | -5.0% | -10.4% | -3.3% | 1.9% | 4.0% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.05bn | 0.05bn | 0.05bn | 0.05bn | 0.05bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive4 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Not enough data
- Financial strength (Piotroski)7 of 8 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- DebtUnknown
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 17.3% a year
- Buying back its own sharesNo, 8% more shares since 2021
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $77 million last quarter, up 22% on a year ago.
- Profit: $2 million, after a loss of $553,000 a year ago.
- It keeps 6 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, up from 0 cents a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $62 million. A year earlier it spent $8 million more than it brought in.
- 4% more shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit less of the company.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $58m |
| December 2024 | $75m |
| March 2025 | $53m |
| June 2025 | $63m |
| September 2025 | $68m |
| December 2025 | $93m |
| March 2026 | $68m |
| June 2026 | $77m |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | -$901,000 |
| December 2024 | $20m |
| March 2025 | -$11m |
| June 2025 | -$553,000 |
| September 2025 | $5m |
| December 2025 | $23m |
| March 2026 | -$6m |
| June 2026 | $2m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 26 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 29 October 2026
Who owns it
2 long-term investors we follow own it, down from 3 last quarter. 319 funds in all.
- Mairs & PowerAndy Adams
- Value
- $1m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mairs & PowerAndy Adams | $1m | <0.1% | |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $635,896 | <0.1% | Added |
Sold out this quarter
- GAMCO InvestorsMario GabelliSold out
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$360mAdded
- State Street$147mAdded
- Congress Asset Management$130mAdded
- Vanguard Capital Management$100m
- Conestoga Capital Advisors$93mCut
- William Blair Investment Management$89mAdded
- BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding$73mCut
- GW&K Investment Management$69mCut
- Soleus Capital Management, L.P.$65mCut
- Geode Capital Management$60mAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
4 investors own more than 5%.
- BlackRock, Inc.Passive investor15.1%Since 31 March 2025
- STATE STREET CORPORATIONPassive investor5.6%Since 30 September 2025
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor5.1%Since 31 March 2026
- Soleus Capital Master Fund, L.P.Passive investorat least 2.8%−2.2 pts(filed with 5 related holders)Since 30 June 2026
- Brown Capital Management, LLCPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 30 September 2025
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
BlackRock, Inc. Passive investor | 15.1% | 31 March 2025 | |
STATE STREET CORPORATION Passive investor | 5.6% | 30 September 2025 | |
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 5.1% | 31 March 2026 | |
Soleus Capital Master Fund, L.P. Passive investor | at least 2.8%−2.2 pts (filed with 5 related holders) | 30 June 2026 | |
Brown Capital Management, LLC Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 30 September 2025 | |
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. 8 sold $8m, $7m of it under preset trading plans.
- MCLAUGHLIN KEVIN FDirectorSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 12 August 2026
- Shares
- 7,000
- Price
- $44.53
- Value
- $311,710
- Halpin MichaelChief Operating OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 3 August 2026
- Shares
- 10,000
- Price
- $46.84
- Value
- $468,400
- SIEGAL JONATHANPrincipal Accounting OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 30 July 2026
- Shares
- 4,500
- Price
- $48.90
- Value
- $220,050
- SIEGAL JONATHANPrincipal Accounting OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 26 June 2026
- Shares
- 2,732
- Price
- $44.90
- Value
- $122,667
- Mara Joseph Anthony JrChief Financial OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 26 June 2026
- Shares
- 5,000
- Price
- $44.75
- Value
- $223,750
- Hopper Jonathan MarkChief Medical OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 26 June 2026
- Shares
- 10,000
- Price
- $45.00
- Value
- $450,000
- Flynn Sean C.Chief Legal OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 26 June 2026
- Shares
- 15,000
- Price
- $45.64
- Value
- $684,600
- Halpin MichaelChief Operating OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 18 June 2026
- Shares
- 10,000
- Price
- $40.24
- Value
- $402,400
- Flynn Sean C.Chief Legal OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 18 June 2026
- Shares
- 15,000
- Price
- $40.21
- Value
- $603,150
- Hopper Jonathan MarkChief Medical OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 2 June 2026
- Shares
- 4,375
- Price
- $35.00
- Value
- $153,125
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 August 2026 | MCLAUGHLIN KEVIN F Director | Sold under a preset trading plan | 7,000 | $44.53 | $311,710 |
| 3 August 2026 | Halpin Michael Chief Operating Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 10,000 | $46.84 | $468,400 |
| 30 July 2026 | SIEGAL JONATHAN Principal Accounting Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 4,500 | $48.90 | $220,050 |
| 26 June 2026 | SIEGAL JONATHAN Principal Accounting Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 2,732 | $44.90 | $122,667 |
| 26 June 2026 | Mara Joseph Anthony Jr Chief Financial Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 5,000 | $44.75 | $223,750 |
| 26 June 2026 | Hopper Jonathan Mark Chief Medical Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 10,000 | $45.00 | $450,000 |
| 26 June 2026 | Flynn Sean C. Chief Legal Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 15,000 | $45.64 | $684,600 |
| 18 June 2026 | Halpin Michael Chief Operating Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 10,000 | $40.24 | $402,400 |
| 18 June 2026 | Flynn Sean C. Chief Legal Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 15,000 | $40.21 | $603,150 |
| 2 June 2026 | Hopper Jonathan Mark Chief Medical Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 4,375 | $35.00 | $153,125 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
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.