Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $47.16, but opened at $52.12. Exact Sciences shares last traded at $52.57, with a volume of 2,024,419 shares.

The medical research company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.16. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 37.29% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. The company had revenue of $706.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.60) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Exact Sciences from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exact Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXAS. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,537,617 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $985,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,321 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Exact Sciences by 74.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,760,241 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $323,669,000 after buying an additional 2,462,165 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Exact Sciences by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,269,823 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $239,922,000 after buying an additional 876,985 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,122,798 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $175,165,000 after acquiring an additional 16,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 107.7% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,919,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $164,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513,873 shares in the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of -9.25 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $45.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.43.

Exact Sciences Company Profile

Exact Sciences Corporation provides cancer screening and diagnostic test products in the United States and internationally. The company offers Cologuard, a non-invasive stool-based DNA screening test to detect DNA and hemoglobin biomarkers associated with colorectal cancer and pre-cancer. It also provides Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score Test; Oncotype DX Breast DCIS Score Test; Oncotype DX Colon Recurrence Score Test; OncoExTra Test for tumor profiling for patients with advanced, metastatic, refractory, relapsed, or recurrent cancer; and Covid-19 testing services.