HC Wainwright Issues Negative Forecast for Vericel Earnings

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) – HC Wainwright decreased their Q2 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Vericel in a report released on Friday, May 8th. HC Wainwright analyst S. Ramakanth now anticipates that the biotechnology company will post earnings per share of ($0.04) for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of ($0.02). HC Wainwright has a “Buy” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Vericel’s current full-year earnings is $0.45 per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Vericel’s Q3 2026 earnings at $0.12 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $0.45 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $0.73 EPS.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.03. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The business had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on VCEL. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vericel currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.40.

Vericel Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of VCEL opened at $32.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 78.38 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.16. Vericel has a 12-month low of $28.95 and a 12-month high of $45.97.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,556 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,460. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Vericel by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,664,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,941,000 after buying an additional 169,971 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Vericel by 174.0% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 64,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,026,000 after buying an additional 40,892 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in Vericel by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 583,884 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $21,026,000 after buying an additional 41,018 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Vericel by 90.3% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,578,000 after buying an additional 1,048,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP lifted its position in Vericel by 171.1% in the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 184,986 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,822,000 after buying an additional 116,756 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Company Profile

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.