What happened
Shares of Exact Sciences Corporation (EXAS 0.10%) were down 11.3% for the week as of Thursday's close, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The healthcare company's stock closed last week at $99.04 then fell to as low as $84.52 on Thursday. The company reported second-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the markets closed. The stock is still up 77% this year.
So what
The cancer screening and diagnostics company, known best for the Cologuard test to detect colon cancer, reported improved Q2 numbers all around, but investors were unimpressed because the company is still losing money. Exact reported Q2 revenue of $622.1 million, up 19%, and a net loss of $81 million, or $0.45 in an earnings-per-share (EPS) loss, compared to a net loss of $166.1 million, or an EPS loss of $0.94 in the same period a year ago.
Most analysts upgraded the stock on the improved numbers, but Benchmark downgraded the stock from buy to hold, saying its earnings didn't justify its high price.
Now what
Expect the stock to bounce back because there are so many positives in the report. The company increased revenue guidance for the year to between $2.441 billion and $2.466 billion, up from earlier estimates of between $2.380 and $2.420 billion. The company is also in a relatively strong cash position with $775.7 million at the end of the quarter. That's enough, at the company's current burn rate, to fund operations for two years, and that's not counting the company's improved revenue.
Exact Sciences should also get a boost when its next-generation Cologuard test is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company said it plans to submit its application for approval by the end of the year.
