Leerink Partnrs Brokers Lift Earnings Estimates for Vericel

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) - Analysts at Leerink Partnrs raised their Q4 2025 earnings per share estimates for Vericel in a research report issued on Thursday, May 8th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Kratky now expects that the biotechnology company will earn $0.48 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.45. The consensus estimate for Vericel's current full-year earnings is $0.14 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Vericel's FY2029 earnings at $2.76 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on VCEL. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.86.

Vericel Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:VCEL traded up $0.48 on Monday, reaching $41.97. 76,228 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 405,955. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 700.37 and a beta of 1.31. Vericel has a 52-week low of $37.39 and a 52-week high of $63.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $42.62 and a 200-day moving average of $51.12.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.14). Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. The firm had revenue of $52.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Vericel's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the 1st quarter valued at $2,808,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Vericel in the first quarter valued at $242,000. PDT Partners LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 42.1% in the first quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 49,325 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,201,000 after acquiring an additional 14,618 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 6.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 950,486 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $42,410,000 after purchasing an additional 55,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of Vericel by 3.8% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,428 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $1,040,966.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 260,354 shares in the company, valued at $10,906,229.06. The trade was a 8.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of cellular therapies for sports medicine and severe burn care markets in North America. The company markets autologous cell therapy products comprising MACI, an autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane for the repair of symptomatic, and single or multiple full-thickness cartilage defects of the knee; Epicel, a permanent skin replacement humanitarian use device for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with deep-dermal or full-thickness burns; and NexoBrid, a biological orphan product for eschar removal in adults with deep partial-thickness and/or full-thickness thermal burns.