Cryo-Cell International, Inc.

What they do

Cryo-Cell processes and cryogenically stores umbilical cord blood and cord tissue stem cells for family use, principally from its Oldsmar, Florida headquarters with specimens stored at its Durham, North Carolina facility. It also manufactures PrepaCyte CB processing units, the technology used to process cord blood stem cells, and stores cord blood for public use. The company and its global affiliates report storing over 250,000 cord blood and cord tissue specimens worldwide.

Revenue drivers

• Cellular processing and cryogenic storage for family use — The historical core business, collecting and preserving umbilical cord blood and, since fiscal 2011, cord tissue for private family storage, with annual storage fees generating recurring revenue.
• PrepaCyte CB Processing System — A separate reportable segment manufacturing the processing technology used to process umbilical cord blood stem cells.
• Public cord blood storage — A third reportable segment processing and cryogenically storing cord blood stem cells for public use.

Recent performance

Annual revenue has been essentially flat, moving from $31.3M in 2023 to $32.0M in 2024 and $31.6M in 2025. Quarterly revenue has been steady at $7.8M, $7.8M, $7.7M and $7.8M across the periods ended August 2025 through May 2026. Annual net income swung from a $9.5M loss in 2023 to $402,095 in 2024 and back to a $2.4M loss in 2025. Operating cash flow has declined from $8.9M in 2023 to $6.0M in 2024 and $5.5M in 2025. At May 31, 2026, total assets were $60.7M, total liabilities $78.5M, and shareholder equity was negative $17.8M, with cash of $507,302 and long-term debt of $8.3M.

Strategy

The company had pursued expansion beyond its historical storage business through a February 2021 Patent and Technology License Agreement with Duke University, intending to develop infusion clinic services and biopharmaceutical manufacturing and to open the Cryo-Cell Institute for Cellular Therapies. Cryo-Cell has received from Duke a notice of termination of the License Agreement as of May 17, 2025, and the company states it is unlikely it can expand into the clinic and biopharmaceutical business units through that agreement. Until the Duke dispute is resolved, the company does not anticipate further investments in Duke-related activities, and the opening of the Institute and the proposed spinoff of Celle Corp. are on hold. The company has also described an initiative around a new facility and the ExtraVault cryopreservation and cold storage service.

Risks

• Duke license termination — Duke delivered notice terminating the License Agreement as of May 17, 2025, which the company says makes it unlikely it can expand into clinic and biopharmaceutical business units under that agreement.
• Negative shareholder equity — At May 31, 2026, total liabilities of $78.5M exceeded total assets of $60.7M, leaving shareholder equity of negative $17.8M, with only $507,302 of cash on hand.
• Listing-rule failures — The company filed delisting notice and listing-rule failure 8-Ks on March 12, 2026 and May 8, 2026.
• Competition and demand sensitivity — The company cites increased competition from public cord blood banks, particularly overseas but also in the U.S., and the risk of a slowdown in the number of people seeking to store cord blood or paying annual storage fees.

Outlook

Management states that until the Duke dispute is resolved it does not anticipate making further investments in Duke License Agreement activities, and that the opening of the Cryo-Cell Institute for Cellular Therapies is on pause with no assurance as to when or if it will open. The proposed spinoff of Celle Corp. is also on hold and may not occur depending on the outcome of the Duke dispute. The company notes an arbitration demand against Duke among its forward-looking risk factors.