How does Trendshare evaluate CERS as a worked example?

This example shows how we apply the Trendshare checklist to CERS: earnings power, cash generation, valuation, and margin of safety. We look at business quality, free cash flow trends, price to earnings, and whether there is a reasonable margin of safety at the current price of 2.65.

Cerus Corporation Stock Price and Value Analysis

Cerus Corporation (NasdaqGM:CERS) in our automated value investing analysis, with the cash flow history and price comparison below.

Key Facts

Ticker: CERS (NasdaqGM)
Current price: $2.65
Sector: Healthcare
Industry: Medical Devices

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Hold-time calculator

Estimate how long you need to hold Cerus Corporation to reach your target.

Target type Target price Target total return %

Current price

Expected annual return (compound annual growth rate, CAGR)

Margin of safety (%)

Target price (Trendshare FV)

Include dividend yield
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CERS Free Cash Flow Trend

Free Cash Flow trendline for CERS — Free Cash Flow trendline for Cerus Corporation

Hmm, we can't give any reliable projection for Cerus Corporation's growth rate. The company either has too few years of historical data for us to examine, or it's in the habit of losing money.

None of this means it's a bad stock. Maybe it's new and growing quickly, or maybe it's turning things around. We can't say anything sensible about it, so we won't say it's obviously undervalued right now. Proceed at your own risk!

Advantages	Disadvantages	Neutral
This company is solid. This company has stable growth.	This stock looks overpriced. This company is not making money.	This company pays no dividend.

Inside the CERS Numbers

	CERS Price (Cerus Corporation stock price per share)	$2.65
× PE Ratio Versus Sector The PE ratio measures the reported earnings of a company to its current stock price. While earnings are easy to manipulate on the balance sheet, this ratio gives you a sense of what buyers are willing to pay for the stock—what they believe it will do in the future. Comparing a stock's PE to the average PE of companies in its industry gives you a sense of market sentiment about the stock and how well it fares financially. It's not the only number, nor the most important, but comparing similar companies is valuable. A ratio far above or below that of its peers is significant. Industries are more specific than sectors, so companies within most industries are more similar than are companies within an industry. Be aware that the size and customers of companies are important to their prospects. Close ^[?]	PE Ratio versus Sector	100% lower than other Healthcare stocks
× PE Ratio Versus Industry The PE ratio measures the reported earnings of a company to its current stock price. While earnings are easy to manipulate on the balance sheet, this ratio gives you a sense of what buyers are willing to pay for the stock—what they believe it will do in the future. Comparing a stock's PE to the average PE of companies in its sector gives you a sense of market sentiment about the stock and how well it fares financially. It's not the only number, nor the most important, but comparing similar companies is valuable. A ratio far above or below that of its peers is significant. Be aware that sectors are very broad, with many types of companies in the same sector. Close ^[?]	PE Ratio versus Industry	100% lower than other Medical Devices stocks
× Cash Yield The cash yield of a stock is the ratio of free cash per share—real dollars available after bringing in revenue and paying bills—to the current price of the stock. It's similar to the PE ratio, but it's less prone to manipulation through accounting practices. In general, the less you have to pay to make more money, the better. Close ^[?]	Cash Yield	-9.57%
× Free Cash Flow Jitter The free cash flow jitter of a stock measures how much the company's free cash flow varies from its historical trend, on average. While it's always nice to make more money than you expected, a company with predictable free cash flow is stable and good. A company with wild swings in its free cash flow warrants further research. In general, the lower this number, the better. Close ^[?]	Free Cash Flow Jitter	19%

Insider Activity Summary

In the six months to 2026-11-10, no insider bought shares, and 5 insiders sold in 8 trades, about $841 thousand.

The six months before that had 0 buys and 14 sales.

Recent Insider Activity

Open-market buys and sells reported by Cerus Corporation's officers, directors, and 10% owners on SEC Form 4. Routine transactions (tax withholding, option exercises, and stock grants) are excluded -- these are discretionary trades only.

Date	Insider	Type	Shares	Price
2026-08-17	Jensen Chrystal (Chief Legal Officer)	Sell	30,000	$2.98
2026-07-16	Jayaraman Vivek K (Chief Executive Officer)	Sell	16,666	$3.16
2026-06-30	Green Kevin Dennis (Chief Financial Officer)	Sell	33,676	$2.94
2026-06-30	Jensen Chrystal (Chief Legal Officer)	Sell	24,329	$2.94
2026-06-30	Greenman William Mariner (President and CEO)	Sell	101,919	$2.94
2026-06-30	Jayaraman Vivek K (Chief Operating Officer)	Sell	42,359	$2.94
2026-06-09	BJERKHOLT ERIC	Sell	20,454	$2.60
2026-05-29	Jayaraman Vivek K (Chief Operating Officer)	Sell	16,667	$3.00
2026-05-01	Jayaraman Vivek K (Chief Operating Officer)	Sell	16,667	$3.00
2026-03-12	Jayaraman Vivek K (Chief Operating Officer)	Sell	165,200	$1.66

This stock has short interest! This means that people have shorted it.

Why does that matter? They've made a bet that price will decrease from where they bought it. Maybe there are financial problems, or maybe there's a value play.

As of the latest analysis, there are 17,717,716 shares shorted. With 195,348,160 shares available for purchase and an average trading volume over the past 10 trading days of 1,222,940, it would take at least 14.5 days for all of the short holders to cover their shorts.

What does this mean to you? At this volume, it'll take more than two trading weeks for shorts to cover. This may indicate a short squeeze play would work! If this stock has good fundamentals and it'll take a while for the short holders to cover, buying now could net you bigger short-term technical gains if and as the price rises.

Estimate Intrinsic Value (DCF)

Project future free cash flow and discount it back to today to compare market price vs intrinsic value. See how compound returns work over time.

📊 Intrinsic Value Calculator (DCF Method)

Calculate the present value of future cash flows to determine stock intrinsic value.

Annual Free Cash Flow ($):

Current or most recent year free cash flow (operating cash - capex)

Expected Annual Growth Rate (%):

Conservative estimate (3-7% for mature companies, 10-20% for growth)

Discount Rate (%):

Required rate of return (8-10% stable, 12-15% growth, 15%+ speculative)

Projection Period (Years):

Longer projections are less certain but may reveal more value

Terminal Value Multiple:

Exit multiple for terminal value (10-15x typical for mature companies)

Calculation Results

Total Intrinsic Value:

Discounted Cash Flows:

Terminal Value (PV):

Year	Future CF	Present Value

How to use this result: Compare the intrinsic value to the current stock price. If intrinsic value is significantly higher than market price (30-50% margin of safety), the stock may be undervalued. Remember, these are estimates based on your assumptions.

Learn to Evaluate CERS

Learn how to evaluate stocks, understand expected returns, and build a value investing strategy.

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Free Cash Flow by Fiscal Year

Each year names the SEC filer that reported it, so a change of filer shows up here.

Fiscal year	SEC filer (CIK)	Free cash flow (USD millions)
2009	1020214	-14.7
2010	1020214	-15.2
2011	1020214	-16.3
2012	1020214	-14.4
2013	1020214	-27.4
2014	1020214	-40.8
2015	1020214	-51.9
2016	1020214	-54.4
2017	1020214	-53.1
2018	1020214	-32.2
2019	1020214	-67.8
2020	1020214	-44.3
2021	1020214	-36.5
2022	1020214	-28.5
2023	1020214	-46.8
2024	1020214	9.0
2025	1020214	2.0

Download the yearly data as CSV.

Price Versus Our Estimated Value

Free cash flow was positive in 2 out of 17 reported years for Cerus Corporation, using only its current SEC filer.

Free cash flow is fairly steady from year to year, with a variability measure of 19%.

We do not estimate a fair value for Cerus Corporation while its free cash flow growth is not positive, so there is no value comparison here.

Dividends are not in our data for Cerus Corporation.

These numbers change when new filings or prices arrive, so treat this page as a snapshot and check the company's own filings.

Compared With Its Sector and Industry

Its trailing P/E ratio is 100% below the average for stocks in the Healthcare sector.

Its trailing P/E ratio is 100% below the average for stocks in the Medical Devices industry.

A P/E ratio depends on trailing earnings, which one-time items can distort, so a lower P/E is not by itself evidence of value.

SEC Filer History

Every fiscal year on this page is reported by one SEC filer, CIK 1020214.

Each figure on this page comes from that filer.

Risks to This Analysis

Free cash flow was negative in 15 of the 17 years we have.
We have no value estimate for this stock, so no price comparison is made.
This page's data was last updated on 2026-09-18. Prices and filings may have changed since.
These figures are automated calculations from SEC filings and the recent price. They may contain errors, and they do not reflect lawsuits, management changes, or other events the filings do not show.

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Questions to Answer Before You Invest in CERS

Does Cerus Corporation have a coherent story? Does it have a plan to continue to make money? Is it worth your time? Only you can decide where to go from here. Our investment guide helps you ask the right questions, including how to buy stocks. Use these research links for more information.

Step 1 — Snapshot
- Price: 2.65
- Market cap: $534M
- EPS: -0.03
Step 2 — Valuation checks
- P/E: —
- FCF yield: -9.6%
- Date checked: Sep 18, 2026
Step 3 — Margin of safety
- Compare price to fair value and safety price.
- Look for durable cash generation and reasonable leverage.
- Decide if it passes your personal checklist.