TEM operates in the computer programming and data processing services sector.
It is a specialized technology services firm distinguished by its agility and focus on delivering tailored, efficient IT solutions.
Updated: February 19, 2026, 16:00 EST
Based on a comprehensive review of TEM's technical, fundamental, valuation, and risk profile, the recommendation is Not to Buy.
The stock exhibits extreme volatility and severe underperformance, driven by a fundamentally unsound business. Despite a strong liquidity position, the company is unprofitable, highly leveraged, and appears significantly overvalued given its negative earnings and poor operational efficiency.
These factors, combined with a risk profile featuring a beta of over 5 and a recent drawdown exceeding -51%, indicate substantial downside risk with no clear catalyst for a sustainable turnaround. For most investors, the pronounced weaknesses and high risk of capital erosion outweigh any potential for a short-term bounce from oversold conditions.
Based on the comprehensive analysis, the 12-month outlook for TEM is highly unfavorable. The primary catalysts are scarce, with any potential price movement likely stemming from short-term, speculative bounces from deeply oversold levels rather than a fundamental business turnaround. The significant risks are the dominant feature, including extreme volatility (beta >5), high leverage, ongoing operational losses, and the substantial risk of further capital erosion.
Given the absence of profitable operations, unsustainable financial structure, and severe underperformance, the stock is expected to remain under significant pressure. In the absence of a credible turnaround plan, the risk/reward profile is skewed heavily to the downside, suggesting the current price could deteriorate further over the next year.
Most Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Tempus AI, Inc.'s 12-month outlook, with consensus target around $59.96, indicating expected upside potential.
Overall, TEM has investment potential but also faces challenges. Here are key factors to weigh before investing.
TEM has demonstrated extremely volatile and substantially negative performance over the past year.
The stock has declined sharply in both the short term, with significant 1-month and 3-month drops of over 10%. Its performance has severely underperformed the broader market by 13.6% over the last three months, indicating pronounced weakness. The exceptionally high beta of 5.2 confirms this extreme volatility and outsized moves relative to the market.
While the current price is near the midpoint of its 52-week range, its proximity to a recent 1-year max drawdown exceeding -51% suggests continued vulnerability rather than a stable position. The stock's extreme volatility makes traditional overbought/oversold assessments less reliable, but the steep recent declines point toward an oversold condition, albeit within a highly unstable trend.
| Period | TEM Return | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|
| 1m | -10.2% | +1.0% |
| 3m | -11.8% | +1.9% |
| 6m | -9.6% | +6.5% |
| 1y | -21.9% | +12.1% |
| ytd | -3.9% | +0.2% |
Revenue & Profitability TEM showed modest revenue growth from Q2 to Q3 2025, increasing from $314.6 million to $334.2 million. However, the company reported significant operating and net losses in both quarters, with the net profit margin deteriorating further to -23.9% in Q3. Despite a healthy gross margin above 61%, high operating expenses continue to erode profitability.
Financial Health TEM maintains a strong liquidity position with current and quick ratios above 3.0, supported by substantial cash reserves. However, the debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63 indicates high leverage, while negative operating cash flow and cash flow to debt ratio signal challenges in servicing obligations from operations.
Operational Efficiency The company demonstrates poor operational efficiency with negative returns on assets (-3.5%) and equity (-15.7%) in Q3 2025. Asset turnover remains low at 0.15, indicating inefficient utilization of assets to generate revenue, while the extended cash conversion cycle of 74.5 days reflects working capital management challenges.
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Try Now & Get Tesla Stock RewardBased on the provided metrics, TEM appears significantly overvalued on a fundamental basis. The company is unprofitable, as evidenced by its negative trailing and forward PE ratios, meaning the market is assigning a positive price to a business generating net losses. This negative earnings picture is further confirmed by the negative EV/EBITDA, indicating poor operational cash flow generation relative to its enterprise value. The high price-to-book ratio of 19.67 suggests the market is valuing its equity at a substantial premium to its accounting net asset value.
A peer comparison using industry averages is not possible, which limits the context for this analysis. Without industry benchmarks for these valuation metrics, it is impossible to determine if TEM's negative earnings multiples and high price-to-book ratio are typical for its sector or outliers. Therefore, the assessment of overvaluation is based solely on the absolute values of the metrics, which uniformly point to a premium valuation for a company that is not currently profitable.
The stock exhibits extremely high volatility risk, with a beta of 5.23 indicating it is approximately five times more volatile than the broader market. This is corroborated by a severe maximum one-year drawdown of -51.47%, highlighting significant potential for substantial capital erosion during market downturns. Such extreme price swings present a considerable challenge for risk management and capital preservation.
Regarding other risks, the notable absence of reported short interest could suggest either limited bearish sentiment or a lack of available shares to borrow, which may impact price discovery during a sell-off. Furthermore, the lack of short interest data might also hint at potential liquidity constraints, as such information is typically available for more actively traded securities. These factors could contribute to distorted price movements under stressed market conditions.
Bearish. TEM carries excessive volatility risk (beta >5) and exhibits fundamental weaknesses including consistent operating losses despite revenue growth, coupled with a highly leveraged balance sheet (debt-to-equity of 2.63). The stock appears overvalued based on negative earnings multiples. This high-risk profile is only suitable for speculative, risk-tolerant investors who can stomach extreme price swings.
Based on the metrics provided, TEM is significantly overvalued. Key valuation metrics all point to a premium: a negative PE ratio (-206.8) and a very high PB ratio (19.67) and PS ratio (9.04). These multiples are difficult to justify given the company's persistent net losses, negative cash flow from operations, and poor returns on assets and equity. The market is valuing the stock at a substantial premium to its book value despite clear fundamental weakness in profitability and operational efficiency.
Based on the provided information, here are the key risks of holding TEM stock, ordered by importance:
1. Market Risk (Extreme Volatility): The stock's exceptionally high beta of 5.23 makes it extremely sensitive to market movements, posing a severe risk of substantial capital erosion, as evidenced by its maximum drawdown of over -51%. 2. Business/Fundamental Risk (Persistent Unprofitability): The company is reporting significant and worsening net losses despite revenue growth, indicating a fundamental failure to convert sales into profit due to high operating expenses. 3. Financial Risk (High Leverage and Weak Cash Flow): TEM's high debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63 is compounded by negative operating cash flow, creating a significant risk regarding its ability to service debt from ongoing operations. 4. Liquidity/Technical Risk (Potential for Dislocated Price Action): The combination of extreme volatility, severe recent underperformance, and the notable absence of short interest data suggests potential liquidity constraints that could lead to distorted and rapid price declines during a sell-off.
Based on the deeply unfavorable outlook and weak fundamentals, TEM's 2026 forecast is highly bearish.
The base case target range for 2026 is $30 - $45, reflecting the high probability of continued capital erosion due to operational losses and high leverage; a bull case is considered improbable without a credible turnaround, but would require a miraculous business recovery to even approach the current price. Key risks are unsustainable losses, an inability to service debt from operations, and inefficient asset use. This forecast carries extreme uncertainty, as the stock's high volatility (beta >5) makes it highly susceptible to sharp, speculative swings in either direction that could deviate significantly from this pessimistic fundamental outlook.