SERA

Alright fellas, roll up your sleeves, it's time to crack the books on another financial nugget. Today's target: Sera Prognostics, Inc. (ticker: SERA). Let's unearth those overlooked details hidden in the balance sheet. (Remember, it's the small print where all the tasty factoids are secreted away. You heard it here first!) SERA's balance sheet gives us two key numbers. Their current assets ($47.546 million, USD) and liabilities ($13.545 million, USD). What does this tell us? They've got assets three times their liabilities. Moreover, their noncurrent assets ($42.511 million, USD) are almost quadruple their noncurrent liabilities ($1.101 million USD). To a value investor like us, this indicates a fair amount of financial stability. (Think of it as a safety net while figuring out a daring trapeze act). Yet, SERA seems to have a bumpy cashflow situation. They've reported a net cash flow of -$22.63 million for Q3 2023. Yowza, that's rough. Most of this is attributable to a net cash outflow from investing activities amounting to $15.164 million, and an outflow of $7.594 million from operating activities. Hold onto your monocles, ladies and gents, 'cause there's more. The income statement bears a grave message – the net income loss of -$7.21 million is not a crowd-pleaser. Subtract the revenues ($0.042 million) from their operating expenses ($8.226 million), and we get an operating loss of $8.184 million – see, simple math. And here's an interesting tidbit, their R&D investments total $3.539 million, a significant chunk of their operating expenses. The plot thickens when we look at the EPS - the basic and diluted EPS seemed to have danced with the devil and hit a low of -$0.23. You may want to tighten your seatbelts for some turbulence folks. In closing, SERA has a robust asset base underpinning its operations. Yet, the poor cash flow, substantial operational loss, and negative EPS paint a less than rosy picture. Keep an eye out for how effectively they convert that R&D investment into future revenue. After all, as value investors, we're playing the long game here, aren't we? So, whether you're in for some financial spelunking or just here for the banter, I hope you gleaned some insights from SERA's records. Grab your picks and shovels, 'cause there's always more data to mine in the fun world of balance sheet decryption! Remember, folks, as always: intelligence is in the balance (sheet)!