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

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened 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 traded.

The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm earned ($0.60) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on EXAS. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Exact Sciences from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Exact Sciences from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 2,804.8% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 610 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Exact Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Exact Sciences by 22,825.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 917 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Exact Sciences Stock Down 2.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.53 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock's 50 day moving average is $45.24 and its 200 day moving average is $53.07.

About Exact Sciences

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.