Should Exact Sciences Stock Stay in Your Portfolio Right Now?

Exact Sciences Corporation EXAS is focused on further promoting Cologuard as the standard of care. The company prioritizes high-return pipeline opportunities with large patient impacts, which is encouraging. Additionally, the company is advancing digital infrastructure and diagnostics to deliver comprehensive insights at every stage of cancer care. Meanwhile, mounting costs from macroeconomic pressures and overreliance on the Cologuard test raise concerns.In the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has fallen 17.9% compared with the 15.6% fall of the industry and the S&P 500 Composite’s gain of 26.9%. The globally renowned medical device company boasts a market capitalization of $10.70 billion. It has a long-term earnings growth rate of 30.6% compared with the industry’s 20.2%. Additionally, the company’s earnings surpassed estimates in two of the trailing four quarters, broke even in one and fell short in another, delivering an average surprise being 29.9%.Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.Key Drivers for EXAS StockCologuard Expansion, A Strategic Focus: In August 2024, the company shared new modeling data, revealing that the Cologuard test has been used to screen for colorectal cancer more than 16 million times over the past decade. And the momentum continues to build. In the third quarter of 2024, screening revenues increased 15%, driven by Cologuard volume. Health systems, healthcare professionals and payers are increasingly embedding the test into their practices.Currently, Exact Sciences is focusing on three areas to enhance Cologuard growth. The first is to build the best and most effective commercial organization in healthcare by investing in the leadership team, training and sales force effectiveness. Secondly, improving the customer experience by making it simpler to order Cologuard electronically and continue rescreening patients every three years; and third, screening more people starting at age 45 to catch cancer earlier.Developing New Solutions: Exact Sciences has made advancements in its most impactful programs — colon cancer screening, molecular residual disease testing and multi-cancer screening. In October 2024, the FDA approved the Cologuard Plus test for adults aged 45 and above who are at average risk for colorectal cancer. The company designed the OncoDetect MRD test to detect bits of residual illness earlier than modern imaging systems can. Besides, Exact Sciences will introduce OncoLiquid — a blood-based therapy selection test from the Resolution Bioscience acquisition — to supplement the tissue-based OncoExTra service.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchAt ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology) 2024, the company showcased advances in its blood-based colon cancer screening test, offering hope for 60 million unscreened Americans. The company also presented favorable data from its multi-cancer early detection blood test, which highlighted the potential clinical value of using multiple biomarkers to detect various cancer types, including the most aggressive and those without recommended screening options.Enhancing Customer Experience: The company is currently working to build the best digital infrastructure and diagnostics to transform cancer care by providing valuable insights at every step of patients’ diagnosis and treatment. This vision includes enabling patients to take a more proactive role in their care and making it easy for physicians to order tests, interpret results and personalize medicine by applying real-world evidence and guideline recommendations.Exact Sciences’ proprietary technology platform, Exact Nexus, enabled electronic connections with nearly 0.25 million providers who ordered Cologuard this year, along with 24 million patients, more than 370 U.S. health systems and over 800 payers.The combined strength of the platform and EXAS’ commercial capabilities are leading to more patients completing Cologuard every three years, supporting the goal of making screening a routine practice and also closing the screening gap.Factors Weighing on EXAS StockEscalating Costs: Geopolitical conflicts, including the ongoing conflict in Europe or the evolving situation in the Middle East, are leading to a tough situation related to raw material and labor costs as well as freight charges. A high-interest-rate environment and limited access to capital markets could strain the company’s suppliers, distributors and key business partners, making it difficult for them to remain in business. All these are creating significant pressure on the Exact Sciences’ profitability.Reliance on Cologuard Test: According to the company, its ability to generate revenues will substantially depend on the commercial success of its Cologuard and Oncotype DX breast cancer tests for at least the next 12 months. However, there can be no assurance that Exact Sciences will be able to develop or commercialize any other products or services that will generate significant revenues. In case the company is unable to continue to grow sales of Cologuard and Oncotype DX breast cancer tests or if it is delayed or limited in doing so, Exact Sciences’ business prospects, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely impacted.EXAS Stock Estimate TrendIn the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Exact Sciences’ loss for 2024 has remained constant at $1.20 per share.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2024 revenues suggests a 9.7% year-over-year improvement to $2.74 billion.Top MedTech PicksSome better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Veracyte VCYT, Haemonetics HAE and Phibro Animal Health PAHC.Veracyte has estimated 2024 earnings growth rate of 37.2% compared with the industry’s 15.3%. Veracyte’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 520.6%. Its shares have risen 44.5% compared to the industry’s 3.6% growth in the past year.VCYT sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Haemonetics, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present, has an estimated fiscal 2025 earnings growth rate of 15.9% compared with the industry’s 12.3%. Shares of the company have lost 8.3% against the industry’s 9.7% growth. HAE’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed on one occasion, with the average surprise being 2.82%.Phibro Animal Health, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has estimated earnings growth rate of 35.3% for fiscal 2025 compared with the industry’s 11.1%. Shares of the company have risen 77.6% compared with the industry’s 9.8% growth over the past year. PAHC’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 25.47%.7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +24.1% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Haemonetics Corporation (HAE): Free Stock Analysis Report Phibro Animal Health Corporation (PAHC): Free Stock Analysis Report Exact Sciences Corporation (EXAS): Free Stock Analysis Report Veracyte, Inc. 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