CRNCCerence Inc.
Is the business good?
A genuinely good business: earnings fully cash-backed (4.0×) and margins widening.
Operating profit is fully backed by cash.
Operating margin has widened over the past few years, the business is getting more profitable per dollar of sales.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is CRNC?
Cerence Inc. earns 6.3% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so growth costs more than it returns.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 2.7 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value
- Operating margin
- 8.7%
Operating margin · Software - Application median 6.4% · 12 months to Q3 2026
- Cash conversion
- 3.97×
Cash conversion · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- Share count, year on year
- +10%
Share count, year on year · shareholders own a smaller slice than a year ago
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | 6.8% |
| FY2021 | 16% |
| FY2022 | −56% |
| FY2023 | −9.2% |
| FY2024 | −175% |
| FY2025 | −0.91% |
Details›
- Gross margin12 months to Q3 2026
- 79%
- Operating margin12 months to Q3 2026
- 8.7%
- Net margin12 months to Q3 2026
- −5.0%
- Free cash flow margin
- 25%
- R&D as % of revenue
- 36%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $309M
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $79M
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- −$15M
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 6.3%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.
Software, Application
Ranks #46 of 96 by RyuScore