Target $3
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Exact Sciences Launches the Oncodetect™ Molecular Residual Disease Test
Exact Sciences Corp. (Nasdaq: EXAS), a leading provider of cancer screening and diagnostic tests, today announced the launch of Oncodetect™—a new test designed to detect molecular residual disease (MRD) across multiple solid tumors. The Oncodetect test provides patients and their healthcare providers with the insights needed to make more informed decisions throughout the treatment process, advancing the field of MRD testing.
The Oncodetect test delivers clear "Detected" or "Not Detected" results, accompanied by quantitative data to help support adjuvant therapy decisions, evaluate treatment response, and monitor cancer recurrence. Notably, patients who test positive for ctDNA with the Oncodetect test during surveillance are 50 times more likely to experience cancer recurrence than those with negative results1. Highly sensitive and personalized, the test tracks up to 200 tumor-specific variants and identifies even trace amounts of ctDNA—down to 1 ctDNA molecule in 20,000 cfDNA‡ molecules. This sensitivity enables earlier detection of CRC recurrence compared to imaging alone
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exact-sciences-launches-oncodetect-molecular-100000445.html
Amazon's Secretive 'Greenland' GPU Strategy Pays Off as AI Demand Surges
- Amazon’s Project Greenland helped the company secure critical GPU capacity for AI as rivals face shortages
Elevance Health execs seek to ease Wall Street's concerns about elevated MA costs
Elevance Health executives sought to ease the minds of skittish investors on Wall Street Tuesday, saying that while medical costs in Medicare Advantage remain elevated—following with an ongoing trend in the industry—but in line with what they anticipated.
During the company's earnings call on Tuesday morning, Chief Financial Officer Mark Kaye said that while costs continue to be higher than in recent years, the elevated costs were "manageable" in the first quarter. He noted that in the early parts of Q1, Elevance saw a slight hike in utilization due to the flu and other respiratory illnesses, but that has evened out over the course of the quarter.
"Effectively, nothing has materially changed with respect to our prior commentary," Kaye said.
Kaye said that the company is looking to deploy disciplined cost management and "improved recognition of member acuity" as it adjusts to what seems to be a new normal in Medicare Advantage around utilization and medical cost.
CEO Gail Boudreaux said the team built out a strategy around potential growth, geographic reach and the product portfolio that accounts for this environment.
Kaye added that the team is actively tracking and monitoring weekly claims data, prior authorization requests and provider-level interactions to identify potential utilization and cost spikes as they happen.
"That's going to enable us to detect shifts and respond accordingly," he said. "But based on the most recent data review that we've conducted by our teams, we remain comfortable with the trend environment and the cost trajectory we've seen here to date."
Kaye said that the company's medical loss ratio in Medicare Part D was also in line with its expectations.
Elevance Health's earnings release follows shortly after industry behemoth UnitedHealth Group, which last week revealed a rough Q1 where it was battered by elevated medical costs, particularly in MA. UHG's earnings sent stocks tumbling across the insurance industry, as it generally serves as a bellwether for broader trends for payers.
Shares in Elevance were down pre-market on Tuesday but have climbed over the course of the day, and prices were up by about 2% at midday.
Elevance Health brought in $2.2 billion in profit for the first quarter of 2025, a figure that surpassed Wall Street's expectations.
The company released preliminary results late last week after a rough Q1 for industry bellwether UnitedHealth Group sounded alarm bells for investors, reporting $11.97 in adjusted earnings per share. While its profit results did beat the Street, Elevance too noted ongoing elevated medical costs, posting an 86.4% medical loss ratio in the quarter.
By comparison, UnitedHealth reported an 84.8% MLR in its Q1 results last week.
Elevance said that its MLR was up 80 basis points compared to the prior-year quarter, and attributed that rise to cost trends in Medicaid, while it was Medicare Advantage that was the problem spot for UnitedHealth.
In the preliminary results released on Friday, Elevance Health did note that cost trends in MA remain elevated but that overall results for the quarter were in line with its expectations and pricing approach.
Profit was down slightly year over year, according to the full earnings report released Tuesday morning. For the first quarter of 2024, Elevance Health reported $2.25 billion in profit.
Revenues did increase compared to the prior-year quarter, however. For Q1 2025, Elevance Health brought in $48.9 billion in revenue, up from $42.6 billion in the first quarter of 2024. The company also surpassed investors' revenue forecasts, according to Zacks Investment Research
“At Elevance Health, our purpose—to improve the health of humanity—drives everything we do. In the first quarter, we made measurable progress reimagining the healthcare experience with personalized support, real-time digital solutions, and a whole-health model that improves outcomes and reduces cost," said CEO Gail Boudreaux in the press release. "Through Carelon and our broader enterprise, we’re delivering on our strategy to be a lifetime trusted health partner—and elevating health beyond healthcare.”
The insurer boasted 45.8 million members in Q1, growth of about 99,000 from the end of 2025. Elevance said that reflects growth in Medicare Advantage and its commercial risk-based clientele, though gains were partially offset by a "known customer transition" in the commercial fee-based segment.
Revenues at its health plan division were $41.4 billion in the first quarter, growing from $37.3 billion a year ago.
The company's Carelon unit also continues to grow, according to the earnings report. Revenues in Q1 were $16.7 billion, up from $12.1 billion in the prior-year quarter.
Elevance attributed the growth to recent acquisitions in the home health and pharmacy spaces, growth at the CarelonRx pharmacy benefit manager and the expansion of value-based care programs at Carelon Services.
Elevance Health expects between $34.15 and $34.85 in earnings per share for 2025, an estimate reaffirmed in its preliminary results filing on Friday.
FDA issues warning on hair-loss treatment sold on Hims & Hers
he Food and Drug Administration issued a warning over topical finasteride, a topical hair-loss treatment sold by telehealth providers like Hims & Hers.
The FDA has approved two oral finasteride treatments but has not approved any topical treatments that typically come in a spray format. The FDA warning letter doesn’t prevent the company from continuing to sell the treatment, but may be a sign of future enforcement.
The FDA noted that patients reported not being warned about side effects. Unlike drugmakers, telehealth companies like Hims do not have to disclose side effects in their advertisements. The process of getting a prescription through platforms like Hims often takes just a few minutes.
The agency said it received 32 adverse effect reports for topical finasteride from 2019 to 2024. “In the reports, consumers said they wished they had been informed about the possible side effects,” the warning said. “Some consumers expressed they became very depressed, suffering with pain and their lives were ruined because of these symptoms.”
Hims did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last month, in a Wall Street Journal story highlighting patients who had negative experiences with topical finasteride, a Hims spokesperson said the company is transparent with patients about side effects.
Hims — the only one of its peers that’s publicly traded — was down about half a point on the news, about three points lower than its intraday high.
https://sherwood.news/markets/fda-issues-warning-on-hair-loss-treatment-sold-on-hims-and-hers/
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) Beats Q1 Estimates, Adjusts FY25 Guidance
- Quest Diagnostics (DGX, Financial) beats first-quarter earnings estimates with a notable revenue increase.
- Analysts project an average price target of $180.78, indicating a potential 11.69% upside.
- The company's average brokerage recommendation suggests an "Outperform" status.
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) recently announced its financial results for the first quarter. The company reported non-GAAP earnings per share of $2.21, which surpassed market expectations by $0.06. Revenue for the quarter stood at $2.65 billion, marking a 12.1% increase compared to the same period last year, and beating forecasts by $20 million. For the full-year 2025 guidance, Quest Diagnostics anticipates revenues ranging between $10.70 billion and $10.85 billion.
https://www.gurufocus.com/news/2793148/quest-diagnostics-dgx-beats-q1-estimates-adjusts-fy25-guidance
Bessent sees deescalation with China, saying the goal isn’t to decouple
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at a private event Tuesday that the US-China trade war is unsustainable and that he expects a deescalation, according to people familiar with his remarks.
No one thinks the current status quo is sustainable, Bessent said, according to a person who was in the room during the event, as the secretary cited the sky-high tariffs the US and China have placed on each other.
He posited that in the near future there will be a deescalation between the two largest economies in the world, and that should give the markets some relief.
Bessent’s comments helped lift US stocks after Bloomberg first reported some of what the Treasury secretary said during the closed-door investor summit in Washington, D.C., that wasn’t open to the public.
Bessent on Tuesday added the goal isn’t to decouple from China, according to the person who was in the room, but he acknowledged that negotiations will be a slog.
At the end of the day, though, he said there is a big deal to be done.
The message on China was welcome news for investors still recovering from a bruising day of losses on Monday, spurred by President Trump’s repeated criticisms of Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell and musings that he may fire the central bank policymaker.
The US and China have been locked in an escalating trade war since Trump announced a heightened set of tariffs on April 2 for countries around the world. While Trump put many of those “reciprocal” tariffs on pause for 90 days, he didn’t do so with China.
The US tariffs on Chinese goods now amount to 145%. China, in turn, has raised tariffs on US goods to 125%.
Last Thursday, Trump said a deal with China could be reached in the next three to four weeks.
Bessent on Tuesday said it may be possible to rebalance their relationship over time, according to the account of the person in the room, noting the US wants to increase manufacturing and consume less from China.
A larger deal between the two countries may be possible in two to three years, and that would be a huge win, he said.
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