Quest Diagnostics reported strong Q2 FY2026 results with 10.2% revenue growth and 19% adjusted EPS growth. Management raised full-year guidance for the second time, citing broad clinical demand, robust consumer and hospital channel performance, and operational efficiencies from automation and AI. Key cross-company signals include a deepening partnership with Fresenius Medical Care, Elevance's new Alzheimer's test coverage, and Quest's competitive positioning in MRD oncology testing. Revenue $3.04B (+10.2% Y/Y), adjusted EPS $3.12 (+19.1%), both above guidance expectations.
Buzzberg readRevenues up over 10%, EPS up 19%Quest Diagnostics reported strong Q2 FY2026 results with 10.2% revenue growth and 19% adjusted EPS growth. Management raised full-year guidance for the second time, citing broad clinical demand, robust consumer and hospital channel performance, and operational efficiencies from automation and AI. Key cross-company signals include a deepening partnership with Fresenius Medical Care, Elevance's new Alzheimer's test coverage, and Quest's competitive positioning in MRD oncology testing. Revenue $3.04B (+10.2% Y/Y), adjusted EPS $3.12 (+19.1%), both above guidance expectations.Read full analysisCollapse analysis
Quest Diagnostics reported strong Q2 FY2026 results with 10.2% revenue growth and 19% adjusted EPS growth. Management raised full-year guidance for the second time, citing broad clinical demand, robust consumer and hospital channel performance, and operational efficiencies from automation and AI. Key cross-company signals include a deepening partnership with Fresenius Medical Care, Elevance's new Alzheimer's test coverage, and Quest's competitive positioning in MRD oncology testing. Revenue $3.04B (+10.2% Y/Y), adjusted EPS $3.12 (+19.1%), both above guidance expectations.
Full-year revenue guidance raised to $11.95-12.05B; adjusted EPS raised to $11.05-11.25.
Organic volume growth 13% (ex-Corwell/Fresenius +4.1%); revenue per requisition ex-mix +2.9% on higher tests per rec.
Hospital channel grew double-digits, partly from Corwell CoLab; pipeline of new deals remains strong.
Revenue$3.043B
+5% QoQ
EPS$3.12
+25% QoQ
Gross margin33.75%
reported
Op margin15.08%
reported
What changed this quarter
01
Guidance
Revenues up over 10%, EPS up 19%
Guidance · revenue to $12B
02
Demand
Corwell and Fresenius contributed 9% to volume
Management expressed confidence driven by strong revenue and EPS growth, raised guidance, and sustained demand across channels; no notable shift in tone from previous calls.
03
Margins
Operating margins expected to expand for full year
Reported gross margin was 33.75%, reinforcing the quarter's better-than-guided profitability.
04
Risk
ACA subsidy expiration a 30 bps revenue headwind
Organic volume growth 13% (ex-Corwell/Fresenius +4.1%); revenue per requisition ex-mix +2.9% on higher tests per rec.
AI, capex & demand read
AI
Platform & monetization
Management discussed implementing AI and automation across operations, including the WholeLogic Genius Digital Diagnostic System for cervical cancer screening, IntelliDraw for specimen collection guidance, and an AI tool for supply ordering, driving quality and productivity improvements.
Demand
Bookings & conversion
Corwell and Fresenius contributed 9% to volume. Management expressed confidence driven by strong revenue and EPS growth, raised guidance, and sustained demand across channels; no notable shift in tone from previous calls.
Capex
Investment and capacity
Capital expenditure guidance for 2026 is approximately $550 million, with increased spend on Project Nova in the second half. No other major capital investment specifics were discussed.
Tone · confident
Management expressed confidence driven by strong revenue and EPS growth, raised guidance, and sustained demand across channels; no notable shift in tone from previous calls.
Supply-chain alpha
A1
Revenue per requisition ex-Corwell/Fresenius rose 2.9% Y/Y driven by a structural increase in tests per requisition to 4.5 from ~3.5-4 pre-COVID, reflecting higher-complexity ordering patterns.
“revenue per requisition was up by 2.9% versus prior year, driven primarily by an increase in the number of tests per requisition”
Quest's Haystack MRD test received New York State approval; management noted only one other company has a tumor-informed MRD test cleared by NY State, implying a competitive edge.
Elevance's new coverage for Alzheimer's biomarkers expands reimbursed test volume for Quest, though AB4240 is not yet covered.
“Elevance recently added coverage for certain blood-based biomarker tests for Alzheimer's. I think that makes it one of, if not the first, major payer to do so.”
Hey, team. Congrats on the quarter. This is Karan on for David. Maybe a couple on oncology. First, the Shield Garden Partnership, if you could maybe speak to early adoption there. And then going back to Haystack, can you maybe speak to priorities around maybe evidence generation to compete with other MRD tests and drive further adoption and reimbursement? Thank you.
Management answer
Jim DavisChairman, Chief Executive Officer and President
Hi. Thanks for the question. Elevance recently added coverage for certain blood-based biomarker tests for Alzheimer's. I think that makes it one of, if not the first, major payer to do so. How big of an opportunity or driver is this new coverage policy for a major payer? And was anything like this embedded in 2026 expectations? And as a quick follow-up, If you'd be able to size the Alzheimer's book of testing right now and the growth that you're seeing there, that would be great. Thank you. OK.
Quest's partnership with Fresenius is driving volume and expanding its kidney testing portfolio, contributing to revenue growth.
“Our collaborations with Fresenius Medical Care continue to support growth in the quarter. Through this relationship, we have fostered new capabilities for serving nephrologists and other providers caring for the nearly 36 million people in”
Jim DavisChairman, Chief Executive Officer and President
… customers. We continue to deliver strong growth in several geographies where we have expanded our reach to physicians through increased health plan access and acquisitions in recent years. We also continue to grow our enterprise accounts, especially in clinical areas where providers value our ability to deliver solutions that serve the growing interest in prevention and wellness. In addition, our collaborations with Fresenius Medical Care continue to support growth in the quarter. Through this relationship, we have fostered new capabilities for serving nephrologists and other providers caring for the nearly 36 million people in the US with chronic kidney disease. Today, we provide a highly comprehensive kidney testing portfolio, spanning risk assessment to post-transplant monitoring for providers focused on this growing area of medicine. In the hospital channel, we grew revenues at a double-digit rate during the quarter, primarily from CoLab Solutions with Corwell Health in Michigan. In addition, revenues from reference testing grew versus the first quarter and prior year. Hospitals continue to contend with workforce, financial, and other pressures. As a preferred strategic …
Hey, team. Congrats on the quarter. This is Karan on for David. Maybe a couple on oncology. First, the Shield Garden Partnership, if you could maybe speak to early adoption there. And then going back to Haystack, can you maybe speak to priorities around maybe evidence generation to compete with other MRD tests and drive further adoption and reimbursement? Thank you.
Management answer
Jim DavisChairman, Chief Executive Officer and President
Yeah, so on the first part of your question, Shield Garden, we don't comment on volumes of that test. As you know, we offer it on our menu and we offer to do draws at a price, obviously. Garden pays us for that. But they'll talk the volumes, I'm sure, on their call. On Haystack, From a clinical evidence standpoint, look, we're solid from a colorectal cancer standpoint. We had some great studies that have been published along the way and feel good about that. We have ongoing studies across breast and lung that will also pay through. But look, at the end of the day, there's both clinical evidence and just proving that your assay from a sensitivity and specificity is leading and one of the best in the industry and better than some of the competitors that are out there. So it's that dual approach. We're going to present the clinical evidence, but we also have very good evidence that when we look at the sensitivity, specificity of the haystack assay, when we look at the detection in terms of parts per million, it's a leading, leading test. Great.
Quest's Haystack MRD test received New York State approval; management noted only one other company has a tumor-informed MRD test cleared by NY State, implying a competitive edge. — Positions Quest as a leader in the MRD space alongside Natera (Signatera), potentially pressuring Guardant's Reveal and other naïve tests.
Hey, good morning, guys, and thanks for taking my question. Could you talk a little bit more about Haystack, like how we think the volumes can increase or post the New York State approval, and also talk about the deal with Flatiron, how we should think about that partnership? Thanks.
Management answer
Jim DavisChairman, Chief Executive Officer and President
Yes, thanks, Pito. So importantly, we did get New York State approval of our Haystack tumor-informed test in the quarter. I believe there's only one other company that has approval from New York State from a tumor-informed standpoint. I think there's some naive tests that they've approved as well. But look, the New York State approval process is very, very rigorous. So we believe it sends a strong signal about the quality and efficacy of the assay that we have. New York is also, as you know, an important market from a cancer standpoint. You have Memorial Sloan-Kennery, you have Cornell Hospital, Roswell in Buffalo, leading cancer hospital, and Strong Memorial, the upstate institutions. So a lot of big cancer institutions in New York that this will open us up to. So we feel good about that. The Flatiron relationship is significant. It just provides ease of ordering to a large, large group of medical oncologists across the country. So we're now integrated into Epicora. We're now integrated into Flatiron. We have our own portal as well. And these are all things that just make ordering and tracking of test results simpler and easier for clinicians. You know, what I would tell you, look, we're pacing our commercial investments and we're pacing the growth of tests that we're doing commensurate with reimbursement. We don't want to get too far out in front of ourselves. We don't need to get too far out in front of ourselves because the switching costs are next to nothing. A clinician can switch. So we're driving reimbursement. As you know, we sit in the Novitas MAC. and then we've submitted to Moldex for Medicare Advantage reimbursement and hopefully that comes in the back half of this year.
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