Spectral AI, Inc. (MDAI) Stock Price & How to Invest
Short answer
You can invest in Spectral AI (MDAI) by buying shares or fractional shares at any major broker, through an ETF that holds it, or as one holding in a thematic basket. Spectral AI is a medical-technology company whose DeepView System combines multispectral imaging with a proprietary AI algorithm to predict the healing potential of burns and wounds at the point of care, helping clinicians decide which tissue will heal and which needs surgery. The thesis is that AI-driven wound assessment can replace subjective visual judgment in burn centers, trauma units, and emergency departments. The biggest risks are blunt: Spectral AI is essentially pre-commercial, its revenue has come almost entirely from government research contracts rather than product sales, it burns cash and remains unprofitable, and any equity holding is highly speculative.
MDAI stock price
As of 2026-06-26, Spectral AI, Inc. (MDAI) last closed at $1.71, down 19.3% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $1.20 and $3.14.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Spectral AI, Inc.'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Spectral AI, Inc. (MDAI) do?
Spectral AI, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDAI), based in Dallas, Texas, is an artificial-intelligence medical-technology company focused on wound care. Its flagship DeepView System uses multispectral imaging and a proprietary deep-learning algorithm to assess the healing potential of burns and other wounds, delivering an AI-driven tissue classification in roughly 20 to 25 seconds after a sub-second image capture, without touching the patient. The algorithm was trained and validated on a large proprietary database of clinically labeled burn-wound images. The goal is to give clinicians in burn centers, trauma centers, and emergency departments an objective read on which tissue will heal on its own and which requires surgical intervention, a judgment that has traditionally relied on subjective visual inspection.
Spectral AI became a public company in 2023 via a SPAC merger and has been development-stage for essentially its entire history. Since 2013 it has been awarded roughly $282.5 million in government funding, the large majority from BARDA (the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority) under a Project BioShield contract valued up to $150 million, with additional U.S. Department of Defense funding supporting a handheld Snapshot module. That government money, booked as research-and-development revenue, has funded most of the company's work. On the regulatory path, Spectral AI submitted a De Novo application to the FDA in June 2025 and received FDA De Novo clearance for the DeepView System's burn indication in May 2026, authorizing U.S. commercial distribution. The financial reality remains stark: full-year 2025 R&D revenue was about $19.7 million (down from $29.6 million) with a net loss of roughly $7.6 million, cash was about $15.4 million at year-end 2025 and around $11.7 million by March 31, 2026, and the company has relied on equity, warrants, and debt to fund operations as it shifts toward commercialization.
What's driving Spectral AI, Inc. (MDAI)?
1. FDA clearance opens the U.S. market.
In May 2026 Spectral AI received FDA De Novo clearance for the DeepView System's burn indication, the regulatory milestone the company had worked toward for years. Clearance authorizes commercial distribution in the United States and is the gate to any meaningful product revenue. Management has signaled it hopes to begin commercializing DeepView by the end of 2026 and is working with Deloitte Consulting on its go-to-market strategy. The opportunity now shifts from getting approved to actually selling and getting reimbursed.
2. Non-dilutive government funding.
Spectral AI's development has been financed largely by government contracts, with roughly $282.5 million awarded since 2013, the bulk from BARDA. The company highlighted $31.7 million in advanced, non-dilutive BARDA funding tied to an accelerated phase of its Project BioShield contract, plus DoD support for a handheld module. This funding has let it build the technology with far less shareholder dilution than a typical pre-revenue device company, though it also means most reported revenue is reimbursed research cost, not commercial sales.
3. Large clinical and addressable need.
Assessing burn depth and wound healing is notoriously subjective, and accurate early triage can change whether a patient needs surgery. DeepView aims to standardize that judgment with an objective AI read at the bedside. Beyond initial burn use in burn, trauma, and emergency settings, the company has discussed extending the platform to chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers, a far larger long-term market if the technology proves out and earns its own clearances.
4. Commercial build-out underway.
With clearance in hand, Spectral AI is assembling commercial infrastructure: it has been searching for a chief commercial officer, engaged outside consultants on launch strategy, and continued developing a more portable Snapshot module funded by the DoD. Whether these steps convert into installed systems, recurring usage, and reimbursement is the central unknown. Management has guided that 2026 revenue stays roughly flat at about $18.5 million, mostly BARDA-funded, with 2027 and 2028 framed as the intended growth years.
What are the risks to Spectral AI, Inc. (MDAI)?
The risks are substantial and concentrated. Even with De Novo clearance, commercialization risk is high: Spectral AI has almost no track record of selling product, and revenue, hospital adoption, and reimbursement for a novel AI imaging device are all unproven. The company depends heavily on government funding, so changes to BARDA or DoD contracts could sharply reduce the revenue it reports today. It is unprofitable and burns cash, with only about $11.7 million on hand at March 31, 2026 against ongoing losses, which makes further dilution through equity, warrants (MDAIW), or debt likely. As a micro-cap with roughly 31.8 million shares and a market value frequently in the tens of millions, the stock is thinly traded and highly volatile, and it faces competition from other wound-imaging and AI-diagnostics approaches as well as the inertia of standard visual assessment.
How is Spectral AI, Inc. (MDAI) valued? (approximate, FY2025 results and Q1 2026 (reported May 2026))
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Spectral AI, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (FY2025, mostly research/BARDA): ~$19.7 million R&D revenue, down from ~$29.6 million in 2024
- Net loss (FY2025): ~$7.6 million net loss for the full year
- Revenue (Q1 2026): ~$4.0 million, down ~40% year over year as BARDA work shifted phases
- Net loss (Q1 2026): ~$3.4 million, versus net income of ~$2.9 million a year earlier
- Cash: ~$15.4 million at Dec 31, 2025; ~$11.7 million at Mar 31, 2026
- Market cap / shares: ~$58 million to $74 million in 2026 (highly volatile); ~31.8 million shares outstanding
- Dividend yield: 0%; Spectral AI does not pay a dividend
Spectral AI should be read as a pre-commercial, development-stage company rather than a normal operating business. Almost all of its reported revenue is research-and-development funding reimbursed under government contracts, chiefly BARDA, so the top line reflects grant-funded development rather than product sales, and it can fall when a contract phase completes (as it did in Q1 2026). Earnings are negative and lumpy, so a P/E ratio is not meaningful, and the market cap reflects expectations for commercializing DeepView, not current profits. All figures are approximate as of the dates noted and change each quarter; verify against Spectral AI's investor relations page or your broker.
Who competes with Spectral AI, Inc. (MDAI)?
Wound and burn imaging peers
Spectral AI's most direct competition is other approaches to assessing burns and wounds, including laser doppler imaging systems and other tissue-perfusion and wound-measurement devices, plus the long-standing default of subjective clinical visual assessment. DeepView's differentiation is a non-contact multispectral image plus an AI prediction of healing potential delivered in seconds, but it must displace entrenched methods to win adoption.
Broader AI medical imaging and diagnostics
More broadly, Spectral AI sits in the fast-growing field of AI-assisted medical imaging and diagnostics, where many specialized startups and larger imaging and device companies are applying machine learning to radiology, pathology, dermatology, and surgical guidance. These firms generally target different conditions, but they compete for hospital budgets, clinician attention, and the regulatory and reimbursement pathways that any AI diagnostic must clear.
ETFs and alternatives
Investors seeking exposure to AI in healthcare more broadly often use healthcare, medical-device, or AI-themed ETFs rather than a single micro-cap. As a very small company, MDAI is rarely a meaningful holding in major ETFs and, when present, sits at a tiny weight in small-cap or thematic funds. Holdings shift as funds rebalance, so check a specific ETF's current holdings with its provider; buying the stock directly gives the most concentrated exposure to Spectral AI's specific thesis.
How to invest in Spectral AI, Inc. (MDAI)
There are three common ways to get MDAI exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so MDAI sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where MDAI fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
The bottom line on Spectral AI, Inc. (MDAI)
Spectral AI is a way to express the view that AI plus multispectral imaging will become a standard tool for assessing burns and wounds, now that its DeepView System has FDA De Novo clearance for the burn indication. It behaves like a speculative, pre-commercial medical-AI micro-cap: tiny, volatile, funded largely by government contracts, and dependent on turning regulatory progress into actual product sales.
More on Spectral AI, Inc. (MDAI)
Whether MDAI is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is MDAI a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the MDAI stock forecast.
For income investors, whether MDAI pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does MDAI pay a dividend?
Build a basket around MDAI with Walnut
Use Spectral AI, Inc. as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What does Spectral AI do?
+
Spectral AI is a medical-technology company whose DeepView System uses multispectral imaging and a proprietary AI algorithm to assess the healing potential of burns and wounds. It produces an objective, non-contact tissue classification in roughly 20 to 25 seconds, intended to help clinicians in burn centers, trauma centers, and emergency departments decide which tissue will heal on its own and which needs surgery. The company has been funded largely by U.S. government research contracts.
What is DeepView?
+
DeepView is Spectral AI's flagship system. It captures a sub-second multispectral image of a wound and runs a deep-learning algorithm, trained on a large proprietary database of clinically labeled burn images, to predict healing potential without touching the patient. The output aims to replace subjective visual judgment of burn depth with an objective, AI-driven read. A handheld Snapshot version is also in development with U.S. Department of Defense funding.
What is MDAI's FDA status and how is it funded?
+
Spectral AI submitted a De Novo application to the FDA in June 2025 and received FDA De Novo clearance for the DeepView System's burn indication in May 2026, authorizing U.S. commercial distribution. Its development has been funded largely by government contracts, around $282.5 million awarded since 2013, mostly from BARDA under a Project BioShield contract, plus DoD support. That funding is booked as research revenue, so most of the company's reported revenue has come from grants rather than product sales.
Does MDAI pay a dividend?
+
No. Spectral AI does not pay a dividend, so its yield is 0%. As a pre-commercial, unprofitable company that burns cash and reinvests in development and commercialization, it is not an income stock; any return would come from share-price changes rather than dividends. This is current as of the dates noted; verify against Spectral AI's investor relations page.
Is MDAI a good stock?
+
This is descriptive, not advice. The bull case is that DeepView now has FDA clearance for burns, addresses a real clinical need, and has been built largely with non-dilutive government funding. The bear case is that Spectral AI is highly speculative: essentially pre-commercial, unprofitable, dependent on government contracts for most revenue, low on cash, and likely to dilute shareholders, with commercial adoption still unproven. Whether it fits depends on your own goals and risk tolerance.
Is MDAI a good stock to buy right now?
+
This is informational, not a recommendation. Spectral AI is a speculative micro-cap whose value hinges on turning its new FDA clearance into actual product sales and reimbursement, against a backdrop of cash burn, government-funding dependence, and a small, volatile share count. Some investors find that risk-reward appealing as a tiny position; others avoid pre-commercial stories entirely. Walnut provides information, not investment advice.
Why is MDAI considered speculative?
+
Spectral AI has almost no commercial sales history, posts net losses, and held only about $11.7 million in cash at March 31, 2026 against ongoing burn, so it relies on equity, warrants, and debt to operate. Most of its revenue is reimbursed government research, which can drop when a contract phase ends, as it did in early 2026. With roughly 31.8 million shares and a tiny, volatile market cap, the stock can move sharply on news, which is typical of pre-commercial medical-AI companies.
Which ETFs or baskets include MDAI?
+
As a very small medical-AI company, MDAI is rarely a meaningful holding in major ETFs; when it appears, it is usually a tiny weight in small-cap or thematic funds, and holdings shift as funds rebalance, so check a specific ETF's current holdings with its provider. In Walnut you can hold MDAI as one constituent of a thematic basket, for example an AI-in-healthcare or speculative medical-technology theme, sized alongside other names to manage its single-stock risk.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Spectral AI, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.