Is CRNC a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Cerence Inc. on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how CRNC compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Cerence Inc.'s AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to CRNC based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes CRNC a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

CRNC - Cerence Inc.

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Hold DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $8.00 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

F 19.5 / 100 pillar composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for stable earnings power businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

⚠ 4 of the last 5 fiscal years showed negative net income — AlphaQuality will not grade above F for persistent unprofitability in a stable earnings power business.

Grade overrides the 19.5 pillar composite because hard gates always win. Use the pillar breakdown below to see where the underlying numbers sit.

Profitability

Weight: 20%

F 0.0

5yr Avg ROIC -29.6% 0/100
Operating Margin Trend -2.12 pp/yr 0/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

F 9.7

5yr Avg ROE -123.2% 0/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 2.4% 28/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

F 15.0

5yr Revenue CAGR -10.2% 0/100
5yr EPS CAGR 0.0% 20/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 2/5 40/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

B 73.3

5yr FCF Margin 6.6% 57/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 1.36x 94/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

F 0.5

Net Debt / EBITDA 11.95x 0/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 0.14x 2/100
Altman Z-Score -0.66 0/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

D- 31.5

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.74 11/100
Piotroski F-Score 5 56/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 3/5 40/100

2 of 2 gurus held; 1 added; 1 trimmed.

Holders: 2
Avg Δ position: +44.7%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 0

Cooperman increased +169%
Wood decreased -80%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (20%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (15%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (20%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (15%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.