Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Announces Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The biotechnology company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $92.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.66 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 5.06%.The business’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Vericel’s conference call:

• The company reported record Q4 revenue of $92.9M (up 23% YoY) and MACI Q4 revenue of $84.1M, delivered record net income and industry-leading margins (Q4 gross margin ~79% and adjusted EBITDA margin 40%), and ended 2025 with ~$200M cash and no debt.
• Management guided 2026 revenue to approximately $316M–$326M (MACI: $280M–$286M; Burn Care: $36M–$40M), expects Q1 company growth >20% and MACI Q1 of ~$54M–$55M, leaving room for upside if momentum continues.
• Key commercial drivers include a ~30% expansion of the MACI sales force and ~1,000 MACI Arthro‑trained surgeons, with Arthro-trained and implanting surgeons showing higher biopsy, implant and conversion rates that management expects to further penetrate existing practices.
• Guidance factors include higher operating costs (OpEx ~$220M) and near-term margin pressure from Burlington manufacturing start‑up and the Phase 3 MACI Ankle trial, and management did not include potential BARDA NexoBrid award revenue in its 2026 guidance due to timing uncertainty.

Vericel Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of VCEL traded up $0.59 on Thursday, reaching $37.68. 608,609 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 499,674. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.13. Vericel has a 12 month low of $29.24 and a 12 month high of $55.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 157.01 and a beta of 1.24.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,163,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $113,933,000 after purchasing an additional 356,680 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vericel by 133.6% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 497,167 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,903,000 after buying an additional 284,305 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Vericel during the third quarter worth about $8,409,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Vericel by 257.9% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 221,999 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,446,000 after buying an additional 159,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EFG International AG acquired a new position in shares of Vericel during the 4th quarter worth about $4,954,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VCEL. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, December 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.50.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company’s expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.