Shares of Certara Inc. (CERT) were up a bit over 2% on Wednesday. The company had some news: it's selling a business. Specifically, it entered into a definitive agreement to divest its Regulatory and Medical Writing unit. The idea here is strategic focus—Certara wants to hone in on its Model-Informed Drug Development (MIDD) and Clinical Intelligence offerings. That seems to be resonating, as the stock moved positively while the broader market also gained.
For context, Certara provides biosimulation software, technology, and services that help with drug discovery and development. So, selling off a piece is about doubling down on what it sees as its core strengths.
Certara Sells Unit to Veristat for $135 Million
The buyer is Veristat, and the price tag is up to $135 million. This isn't a tiny side operation: in 2025, the Regulatory and Medical Writing business pulled in $50 million in revenue and $17 million in adjusted EBITDA. It also comes with a team of about 220 employees. The transaction is slated to close in the second quarter of 2026.
Certara's CEO, Jon Resnick, framed the sale as a way to boost investment in the company's integrated MIDD platform, aiming to create long-term value for both customers and shareholders. In other words, they're taking the cash from this sale and plowing it back into what they think will drive future growth.
Certara Analyst Sees Strategic Clarity, Improved Timing
Analysts are weighing in, and the take is pretty positive. William Blair put out a note on Wednesday saying, "The divestiture removes a key overhang on the stock and a lower-growth and less differentiated services asset while providing capital to reinvest in core biosimulation platforms." That's analyst-speak for: this was a distraction, it wasn't growing fast, and now they have money to put into the good stuff.
Analyst Max Smock added, "The timing also looks favorable, given biopharma demand is showing early signs of improvement and regulatory support for model-informed approaches continues to build, as evidenced by recent strength at competitor Simulations Plus." He's pointing to a broader trend—biopharma spending might be picking up, and regulators are getting more comfortable with model-based drug development. As a data point, Simulations Plus Inc. (SLP) reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter of fiscal 2026 back in April, though it gave mixed guidance for the full year.
Analyst Ratings And Market Positioning
So, what's the street saying overall? The stock carries a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $10.57. But recent moves show some nuance:
- Keybanc: Overweight (Lowers Target to $8.00) (April 13)
- Barclays: Downgraded to Equal-Weight (Maintains Target to $8.00) (March 6)
- Barclays: Overweight (Lowers Target to $8.00) (Feb. 27)
You've got a target cut here, a downgrade there—it's not all uniform bullishness, but the average target still suggests upside from current levels.
As for how the stock is actually trading, Certara shares were up 1.94% at $6.32 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to market data. That's a modest gain on the news, but it's worth noting that broader market metrics signal some challenges. Available data shows a weak value score of 25.35, indicating the stock trades at a steep premium relative to peers, and a bearish momentum score of 1.88, reflecting very weak performance indicators. This suggests that while the divestiture might provide a short-term lift, longer-term performance could face hurdles.
