Exact Sciences stock soars after firm reports strong sales

Exact Sciences Corp., a Madison-based company that provides cancer diagnostic tests and screenings, saw its stock price soar Wednesday after it reported better-than-expected first-quarter sales.

Exact Sciences, Nasdaq EXAS, reported Tuesday total revenue of 602.5 million dollars for the first three months of 2023. This is a 24% rise compared to $486.6 millions in the first three months of 2022. According to Zacks Consensus estimate, this revenue exceeded analysts' expectations by 11%.

The company's screening business, including its colorectal screening test at home Cologuard, was responsible for a large part of its first-quarter revenue increase. Exact Sciences reported a first-quarter revenue from screening of $443 millions, up by 45% when compared to $307 million for the first quarter in 2022.

Jeff Elliott, Exact Sciences' chief financial officer and chief operating office, said during Tuesday's earnings call that the majority of the growth in screening revenues was due to the adoption of Cologuard.

The stock of the company closed at 78.73 dollars per share on Wednesday, which was its highest price for more than a full year. Exact Sciences announced its first quarter earnings Tuesday, after the U.S. markets closed. Its stock closed at $71 a share.

Exact Sciences posted a net loss for the first quarter 2023 of $74.2 Million, or 42 cents per common share. This was lower than Zacks Consensus Expectation, which predicted a loss per share of 79 Cents. Exact Sciences, on the other hand, had a first-quarter 2022 net loss of 180.9 million dollars, or $1.04 per share.