OTC:CRYO (American CryoStem Corporation), based in Eatontown, NJ, with partner laboratories in the U.S., Japan and China, is a firm engaged in developing, bringing to market, standardizing and licensing technologies, materials and services geared at adipose tissue (aka body fat) regenerative and personalized medicine. In this capacity, CRYO is focused on research, analysis, transfer, storage, sterilization, viability and other services in the over-arching adipose tissues field. They also claim to have a strategic portfolio of intellectual property (IP) which they say will support their pipeline of stem cell and applications and biologic products. CRYO was founded in 2008.

There’s been a spike in recent activity on CRYO and we’ll look at the short- and long-term implications as well as try to figure out what’s actually behind the sudden upward trendline.

In 2016 CRYO appointed a Nobel Prize nominee and stem cell expert Vincent C. Giampapa, M.D. to its medical and scientific advisory board. Mr. Giampapa was nominated for the prize for his stem cell work in epigenetics, or the study of human cell function with the goal of aging better. More recently CRYO filed for patent protection for its premier growth medium, ACSelerate MAX™, in Europe, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, Israel, Russia, India, Australia/New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. This product is a growth medium for stem cells. They also announced the plan to continue to expand the licensing model that the developed for ACSelerateMAX™ and apply it to their entire family of 14 growth and differentiation mediums as well as its transportation and cryopreservation mediums many of which are patented and others in the patent process internationally.

So long story short, this company is in the business of stem cell treatments and therapies. What does that mean and how does it compare to their peers? Well, they just released their 2017 Q3 earnings report and from what we can see, most indicators fare pretty well for the future. In summary, revenues are up slightly, YOY revenue growth is about 173%, earnings are positive for the first time in several cycles as is net margin.

Their peers include Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (BCLI), Verastem, Inc. (VSTM), Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARWR), Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (FATE) and Caladrius Biosciences, Inc. (CLBS) and all have reported for the same Q3 period. All told, CRYO appears to be in good shape compared to its peers (all information is available to the public) and is holding onto its market share. It doesn’t look like CRYO has sacrificed working capital for gross margins, which also improved, and indicates balance sheet solidity and good decision making by corporate governance.

So, where does it stand and where is it going? For much of the last year it has hovered between a low of $0.20 and $0.54 in June of 2017. At that point it began a takeoff and in August fluctuated between $0.53 and $0.75 before spiking to $1.10 twice in the past 2-week period through a 75% increase in trading volume. As of now, it rests at $1.00. We truly think that anything is possible with this one and most indicators are positive for the short and mid-term value of this stock. It appears to be slightly undervalued and the market has noticed. A year ago they retained an investor relations partner and that may be paying off in more than one ways.

Keep an eye on this one. Even though it’s near its all-time high, we think that bodes even better for the future.