NEW YORK – Exact Sciences reported after the close of the market on Thursday that its first quarter revenues were up 11 percent over the same quarter of 2024, driven by year-over-year growth for both its screening and precision oncology tests.
Buoyed by the results, the company updated its full-year 2025 revenue guidance to between $3.07 billion and $3.12 billion. It had previously projected FY2025 revenues between $3.03 billion and $3.09 billion.
Investors reacted positively to the news, sending shares of Exact up nearly 12 percent to $52.78 in Friday morning trading on the Nasdaq.
For the three months ended March 31, the company generated revenue of $706.8 million compared to $637.5 million for the same period of 2024, beating analysts' average estimate of $688.6 million.
Exact's screening revenue for the quarter was $540.0 million, up 14 percent from $474.8 million in Q1 2024. Its precision oncology revenue rose 2 percent to $166.8 million from $162.7 million.
Among other milestones, the company highlighted the release of its second-generation Cologuard Plus assay during Q1, as well as the more recent launch of Oncodetect, its molecular residual disease and recurrence monitoring assay, for which it expects to gain Medicare coverage in the second half of this year.
According to the company, it is also on track to launch Cancerguard EX, its blood-based multi-cancer screening test, in the second half of 2025.
During a call with investors, Exact CEO Kevin Conroy added that the company is holding fast to its timeline to share top-line results this summer on the blood-based version of Cologuard from its BLUE-C study.
"Since our last update, we have completed three studies to optimize and lock [the test's] algorithm [and] … based on those results, we believe we have a high-quality test," he said.
"All roads lead to USPSTF," he added, referring to the US Preventive Services Task Force, whose endorsement is essential for cancer screening tests. "That’s likely going to take a few years, and there are changes there at USPSTF in terms of the budget being cut recently, so we don’t have a clear idea of when the guideline group will meet," Conroy said.
"We believe there will be a niche for blood testing, but we don't know whether blood will get into the guidelines. It’s certainly not going to be an easy road there."
Exact reported a Q1 net loss of $101.2 million, or $.54 per share, compared to $110.2 million, or $.60 per share in the prior-year period. On an adjusted basis, the firm calculated its per-share net loss at $.21. Analysts, on average, had expected a per-share loss of $.09.
The firm's quarterly R&D spending was down 5 percent at $105.3 million compared to $110.9 million in Q1 2024, while its SG&A costs rose 11 percent to $484.9 million from $436.5 million.
Exact exited the quarter with $347.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and $439.0 million in marketable securities.