Start here if you're new
what it is
Cartesian Therapeutics is trying to treat autoimmune disease with engineered cell therapies.
how it gets paid
Last year Cartesian Therap made $400K in revenue. Descartes-08 collaboration was the main engine at $160K, or 40% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 99.0% last year. The $400K revenue figure mattered most because it shows how little business is there before the trial story pays off.
what just happened
Cartesian posted $400K of revenue and a $1.45 loss per share in the latest quarter.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
5/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
32.6% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
-$4.49 fy2024 eps est
$39M fy2024 rev est
xvary composite: 38/100 — weak
What they do
Cartesian Therapeutics is trying to treat autoimmune disease with engineered cell therapies.
Cartesian has 66 employees. That is tiny versus big drugmakers, and that is the point. mRNA CAR-T → engineered immune cells → your own T-cells get a temporary weapon, not a permanent rewrite. Phase 2b means mid-stage human testing, so a clean readout can matter more than size.
How they make money
$400K
annual revenue · their business grew -99.0% last year
Descartes-08 collaboration
$160K
Descartes-15 development
$120K
RNA in situ platform
$80K
Other research revenue
$40K
The products that matter
lead autoimmune cell therapy candidate
Descartes-08
lead program · value driver
there is no product revenue here yet, but this is the asset carrying a company with a $196M market cap and a $130.3M annual loss.
lead asset
pre-commercial development platform
Clinical Pipeline
$400K reported revenue
the whole business produced just $400K in reported annual revenue, which tells you the pipeline is still science first and business second.
pre-revenue
balance-sheet fuel for trials
Cash Position
$126.9M cash
for a company with no commercial engine, the $126.9M cash balance is effectively part of the product because it buys time for the next data readout.
runway
Key numbers
$400K
annual revenue
You are looking at a company that sold $400K in a year. That is tiny for a public biotech.
-$4.49
FY2024 EPS
Each share lost $4.49 in 2024. The science has to work before the math gets kind.
$9M
long-term debt
Debt is only $9M, but the business has almost no sales to pay it with.
1.3
beta
A 1.3 beta means the stock tends to move 30% more than the market.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 5 / 100
- long-term debt $9M (4% of capital)
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for RNAC right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
Cartesian posted $400K of revenue and a $1.45 loss per share in the latest quarter.
Revenue stayed tiny, and the company is still burning cash to fund the pipeline. That is normal for a clinical-stage biotech, but the sales base gives you almost no cushion.
$400K
revenue
-$1.45
eps
n/a
n/a
the number that mattered
The $400K revenue figure mattered most because it shows how little business is there before the trial story pays off.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is clinical disappointment in Descartes-08. With revenue still negligible, there is no operating business here to absorb a bad readout.
med
Descartes-08 fails to clear the bar
This is a single-lead-story biotech. If the lead asset disappoints, the market loses the main reason to pay a $196M valuation for a company with $2.8M in trailing revenue.
A weak clinical readout would hit narrative, valuation, and financing leverage at the same time.
med
cash burn forces dilution
RNAC finished December 2025 with $126.9M in cash and posted a $130.3M annual loss. That is the math you have to respect.
If spending stays near this level, shareholders may fund the next chapter through new equity rather than business cash flow.
med
revenue offers no cushion
Reported annual revenue was $400K, while FY2025 revenue came in at $947K and trailing revenue sits at $2.8M. However you slice it, the revenue base is too small to matter much yet.
When commercial traction is this thin, almost all downside protection has to come from cash and future data.
A setback here would not just pressure margins or slow growth. It would directly test the value of a $196M company with sub-$3M trailing revenue and a $126.9M cash balance financing ongoing losses.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
calendar
Descartes-08 phase 2b data timing
This is the catalyst that can move the whole stock. No date is provided here, which makes the wait part of the risk.
metric
cash versus annual loss
$126.9M of cash against a $130.3M annual loss is the simplest dashboard on the page. You want that gap narrowing, not widening.
risk
any hint of equity financing
Pre-commercial biotechs usually raise money before they have to. If RNAC taps the market, your ownership may get diluted before the science is de-risked.
trend
price target spread stays wild
The published range runs from $16 to $44. When analysts disagree by that much, what they are really saying is that the outcome depends on data, not modeling precision.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
5 / 100
In human-speak, analysts do not expect clean, stable earnings here because there is no mature earnings engine yet.
risk rank
4
That means the stock looks riskier than most of the market. Small-cap biotech plus binary data will do that.
price stability
5 / 100
This is not a bunker stock. It trades like a company waiting for clinical proof.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for RNAC is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$9
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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