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what it is
Lifecore makes and fills sterile injectable drugs, including hyaluronic-acid ingredients, for healthcare customers that outsource manufacturing.
how it gets paid
Last year Lifecore Biomedical made $76M in revenue.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 771.6% last year. Latest-quarter revenue rose 26% vs. prior year. EPS was negative $0.29.
what just happened
Lifecore grew revenue to $31 million, but you are still looking at a money-losing manufacturer.
At a glance
C++ balance sheet — some cracks in the foundation
20/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
10.3% return on capital — nothing to write home about
-$1.14 fy2025 eps est
$129M fy2025 rev est
xvary composite: 48/100 — below average
What they do
Lifecore makes and fills sterile injectable drugs, including hyaluronic-acid ingredients, for healthcare customers that outsource manufacturing.
Lifecore sells the part of drug manufacturing you really cannot botch: sterile fill-finish (contract development and manufacturing organization → outsourced drug factory → customers pay to avoid contamination and delays). If your product goes into a syringe or vial, one bad batch can wreck your launch. That pain supports demand for its specialized hyaluronic-acid and injectable manufacturing work, and quarterly revenue still grew 26% vs. prior year to $31 million.
How they make money
$76M
annual revenue · their business grew +771.6% last year
total revenue
$76M
+771.6%
The products that matter
makes injectable products for clients
CDMO Services
$75.5M in 7 months · +20%
This is the business that matters. It produced $75.5M in revenue over a seven-month transition period and grew 20% from the prior year. If you are building the bull case, you are building it here.
operating core
small residual revenue bucket
Other Revenue
$0.5M · not material
At $0.5M, this is less than 1% of the $129M annual revenue base. That tells you the quiet part loud: almost all of the real underwriting work sits inside CDMO execution.
noise
Key numbers
-$1.14
fy2025 eps est
$129M
fy2025 rev est
25.0%
gross margin
Gross profit kept about 25.0% of each revenue dollar.
n/a
dividend yield
Financial health
C++
strength
- balance sheet grade C++ — below average — limited financial resources
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 10 / 100
- long-term debt $136M (36% of capital)
C++ — risk rank looks solid but balance sheet grade needs watching.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for LFCR right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
beat estimates
Lifecore grew revenue to $31 million, but you are still looking at a money-losing manufacturer.
Latest-quarter revenue rose 26% vs. prior year. EPS was negative $0.29, though that was 45% better than the prior year period.
$31M
revenue
$0.29
eps
25.0%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The key number was 25.0% gross margin, because margin recovery is the only way revenue growth turns into actual earnings.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the core risk is simple: Lifecore is trying to stabilize a manufacturing story with $136M of long-term debt, 25.0% gross margin, and a projected -$1.14 EPS year. You do not need disaster here. You just need operations to improve slower than the balance sheet demands.
high
debt keeps dominating the equity story
$136M of long-term debt equals 36% of capital. If operating performance stalls, the balance sheet stops being background noise and becomes the only thing the market talks about.
higher financing pressure on a business expected to lose -$1.14 per share this year
high
segment momentum fails to reach company totals
CDMO Services grew 20% to $75.5M in the transition-period view, but full-company revenue moved only 0.5%. If that gap stays wide, the recovery story starts sounding like one good segment carrying a tired corporate shell.
the market keeps valuing LFCR like a stalled manufacturer instead of a cleaner turnaround
med
legal activity adds noise at the wrong time
The page data flags shareholder class action investigation activity. Even without a quantified liability here, legal distraction is an unhelpful extra variable for a small-cap company that already needs sharper execution.
added uncertainty around management attention and potential cash demands
med
estimate whiplash keeps the stock unsettled
Earnings predictability is 20/100. Translation: if you own this, expect estimate revisions and messy quarters, not the kind of rhythm that makes a small-cap easy to trust.
multiple pressure when confidence moves slower than the estimates do
What would change our mind on the cautious view: company-wide growth needs to start looking more like the 20% CDMO Services growth rate, while gross margin holds around 25.0% and the -$1.14 EPS setup improves. If that does not happen, the debt keeps the upper hand.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
gross margin holding 25.0%
This is the cleanest read on whether plant execution is improving. At 25.0%, there is some breathing room. If it slips, the debt looks bigger immediately.
trend
whether 20% segment growth reaches the company total
CDMO Services grew 20% in the transition-period view while full-company revenue rose just 0.5%. You want that gap closing, not becoming the permanent explanation.
risk
shareholder class action activity
Legal overhang rarely helps a small-cap multiple. If this gets louder while the operating story stays mixed, the stock can get cheaper without the business changing much.
calendar
next earnings update
The next report needs to do more than sound stable. You want evidence that the $129M revenue base and -$1.14 EPS setup are moving in the right direction together.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
mixed
analyst target data is thin here. in human-speak: there is no broad wall street agreement doing the work for you.
risk profile
volatile
price stability is 10/100. this can trade like a small-cap balance-sheet story even when the business update sounds calmer.
chart momentum
range-bound
the stock sits inside a $5–$9 52-week range. translation: the market is waiting for proof, not promises.
earnings predictability
20/100
estimates move around because the operating story is still being repaired. this is not a set-it-and-forget-it earnings profile.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for LFCR is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$8
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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