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Cerus Corporation

CERS
32
Medical - Devices · Healthcare
Price
$2.81
+0.02 (+0.72%)
Market Cap
$566.3M
Exchange
NASDAQ
Winston Score
32
Winston is serious
Below-average fundamentals — multiple weak pillars.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026
How the score breaks down
Quality
Weak
Growth
Good
Cash Flow
Weak
Stability
Mixed
Valuation
Data not available

Share count rising — dilution

+11.3% over 4y

The company has issued more shares over this period, which dilutes each existing shareholder’s stake.

Diluted shares outstanding: 171.3M (2021) → 190.6M (2025)

Winston Score History

The full picture

Cerus Corporation makes technology that cleans blood before it is used in transfusions. Its main product is the INTERCEPT Blood System, which uses a special chemical process to kill viruses, bacteria, and other harmful things that might be hiding in donated blood. Hospitals and blood banks are the main customers, and Cerus operates in the medical devices industry focused on blood safety.

Cerus earns money by selling disposable kits that blood centers use each time they process a donation, creating a recurring revenue stream. The company sells primarily in the United States and Europe, with the US being its largest growth opportunity since INTERCEPT gained broader FDA approvals in recent years. With a gross margin around 52% but an operating margin near breakeven, Cerus is still working to scale its business — the key growth driver is wider adoption of pathogen reduction technology by US blood centers, while the main risk is the slow pace at which hospitals and regulators change established blood-handling practices.

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+9.5% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+50.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$68M/ year

Rising (+15% vs prior year)

32.9% of revenue

1.8x the sector average (18%)

Investing heavily in future products and technology

Insider Activity

5.4%ownership

Rising

Insiders increasing their stake — aligned with shareholders

Cash Runway

~4 years

$56M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

$56M cash & investments at current burn rate

Heavy R&D investment

Cerus Corporation is putting 33% of revenue into R&D and that number is rising. That's 1.8x the sector average. With 4+ years of cash runway, they have time to let it pay off.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
51.4%
Healthy — 51.4% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
-3.2%
Losing money on operations — -3.2%
Return on the money invested
ROCE
-1.2%
Weak — -1.2% return on capital

Negative ROIC means the business is losing money on every dollar invested in it.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
+15.1%
Fast-growing sales (+15.1% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
N/A
Data not available
How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
7/8 quarters
Every recent quarter grew earnings vs last year

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
N/A
Data not available
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
-0.8%
Burning cash (-0.8%)

Free cash flow is negative. They are burning cash, not generating it.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.93
Moderate — manageable debt (0.93)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
N/A
Data not available

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
N/M
Negative earnings — P/E not meaningful
Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
N/A
not available
Data not available

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.
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