Geron Corporation — Earnings Quality Grade F
GERN · Healthcare
Major red flags
Screening Summary
Management Signals
Source: SEC EDGAR 8-K Item 5.02, with exhibit links when available
Financial Trends
Revenue & Net Income ($B)
Margins (%)
18-Point Screening
Revenue Quality
DSO 73 days, change -97 days YoY
AR growth 2.9% vs revenue growth 138.8%
Revenue 138.8%, CFFO 49.2%. Cash follows revenue
Expense Quality
Inventory 201.3% vs COGS 277.8%. Normal
CapEx growth -92.8% vs revenue 138.8%. Normal
SG&A/Gross Profit = 88.9%, exceeds 70%
Gross margin 97.4%, change -0.9pp. Stable
Cash Flow Quality
CFFO/NI = 1.33. Profits backed by cash
FCF is negative ($-0.1B)
Accruals ratio = 4.8%. Low accruals
Cash $0.4B covers debt $0.1B
Balance Sheet Health
No goodwill. Clean balance sheet
Interest coverage = -1.6x (<2x). Financial stress
Other assets 45.7% vs revenue 138.8%. Normal
No write-off data
Acquisition Risk
FCF after acquisitions negative for 3 years
Small-cap context: A single acquisition on a small balance sheet can trip serial-acquirer logic.
No goodwill
Manipulation Score
M-Score = -1.72 (> -1.78). LIKELY MANIPULATOR
Small-cap context: Beneish M-Score was calibrated on large-caps; small-cap DSO/inventory volatility mechanically inflates it.
Beneish M-Score
Altman Z-Score
Generated from public financial data using forensic accounting frameworks. Not investment advice. Data: Yahoo Finance · 2026-04-25