Guardant Health and Natera reported third-quarter results on Nov. 5 as shares across the cancer-testing sector faced pressure. Guardant beat revenue expectations and lifted its full-year outlook, while Natera's loss per share was larger than analysts had forecast. Both companies compete in liquid biopsy, using blood samples to detect cancer-related signals.
Guardant beats revenue estimates and lifts outlook
Guardant reported a third-quarter loss of 29 cents per share on revenue of $361 million. Analysts had expected a loss of 31 cents per share and revenue of $351 million. The company also raised its full-year revenue outlook. Under current expectations, Guardant is not projected to become profitable until 2028.
The revenue beat does not change the fact that the company remains loss-making. For investors, the higher full-year outlook offers updated guidance on sales, while the projected timeline to profitability points to continued operating investment in the years ahead.
Natera's loss per share exceeds forecasts
Natera reported a third-quarter loss of 42 cents per share, wider than the 29-cent loss analysts expected. The available results did not include the company's quarterly revenue or details of any changes to its full-year outlook, leaving the larger-than-expected per-share loss as the main reported variance.
The companies compete in liquid biopsy, with investors watching revenue from testing, the scale of losses and management's expectations for the full year. Their latest results diverged: Guardant posted better-than-expected revenue and raised its outlook, while Natera reported a deeper loss per share than forecast.
Other cancer-testing stocks were already under pressure
Grail, another company in the sector, reported third-quarter results on the evening of Nov. 4. Sales of its Galleri cancer-detection product were weak and disappointed investors. Veracyte shares fell nearly 60% after testing volumes in its prostate cancer business came in below expectations. Veracyte sells tissue-based cancer tests, unlike the blood-testing services offered by Guardant and Natera.
The companies' businesses and results are not directly comparable, but successive sales and testing-volume concerns have kept attention on the commercial progress of cancer-screening products. Guardant and Natera released their figures against that backdrop: Guardant improved on expectations for revenue and its full-year outlook, while Natera's loss was wider than the market had anticipated.