Michael Bell
Analyst · Doug Schenkel with Wolfe Research
Thanks, AmirAli. Moving to Slide 19, I'll now review our first quarter 2026 financial results. Unless otherwise noted, all growth rates are year-over-year. Total revenue in Q1 increased 48% to $302 million, reflecting strong growth and continued momentum across Oncology, Biopharma & Data and Screening. Starting with Oncology. Revenue increased 36% to $205 million. We reported approximately 86,000 oncology tests in the quarter, representing 47% volume growth with broad-based strength across the portfolio. Guardant360 Liquid volumes grew 30%, supported by expanding clinical utility and continued traction of our Smart Apps. Guardant360 Tissue also continued to scale and remains our second fastest-growing oncology product. Reveal remains our fastest-growing oncology product with volume growth exceeding 100%, reflecting strong adoption in MRD and continued expansion in therapy response monitoring following its Q4 2025 launch. Average selling prices were stable sequentially with Guardant360 Liquid in the range of $3,000 to $3,100, Guardant360 Tissue above $2,000, and Reveal between $600 and $700. As a reminder, we've submitted data packages to MolDx for medicare reimbursement covering breast MRD and both immunotherapy and chemotherapy response monitoring. Favorable outcomes from these submissions will provide upside to Reveal ASP. Biopharma & Data revenue was $53 million, up 17%, reflecting sustained demand and continued strength across sample testing, companion diagnostic projects and data products. In Screening, Q1 revenue was $42 million compared to $6 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by approximately 44,000 Shield tests in the quarter compared to approximately 9,000 in the prior year period. Volume tracked in line with expectations through January and February. And following the launch of our Quest partnership and successful HCP and DTC programs during colorectal cancer awareness month, we saw clear momentum build through March and exited the quarter strongly. Shield ASPs increased significantly year-over-year, reflecting the Medicare rate step-up from $920 to $1,495 that went into effect on April 1, 2025, following Shield's ADLT designation. As a reminder, after the initial 9-month period of list price-based reimbursement, Shield transitioned to market-based pricing at the start of 2026. Based on Commercial and Medicare Advantage payments received in 2025, the $1,495 Medicare fee-for-service rate is now established for 2026 and 2027. Out-of-period revenue in Q1 was broadly consistent with quarterly trends over the past year and totaled $22 million, which consisted of $18 million Oncology revenue and $4 million Screening revenue. Turning to Slide 20. Non-GAAP gross margin was 66% in Q1 2026, up from 65% in the prior year period. The improvement was primarily driven by lower Guardant360 Liquid cost per test reflecting the ongoing transition to NovaSeq X, which will be completed in May 2026. The transition reduced Guardant360 Liquid sequencing cost per test by nearly $200 versus Q1 2025. We also benefited from improved screening gross margins, which I'll discuss on the next slide. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $268 million, an increase of 34%, primarily driven by commercial investment. While R&D and G&A saw modest year-over-year increases, sales and marketing expense rose to $154 million in Q1 2026 compared to $94 million in the prior year period. This reflects continued investment in building out our screening sales infrastructure, advancing Shield HCP and DTC marketing programs and supporting ongoing oncology revenue growth. Adjusted EBITDA loss in Q1 was $59 million compared to a loss of $59 million in the first quarter of 2025. Free cash flow burn in Q1 2026 was $71 million compared to $67 million in the prior year period. The year-over-year change reflects an increase in the company-wide annual bonus payout in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025. Excluding this impact, free cash flow burn decreased by approximately $12 million year-over-year. We remain focused on disciplined cash management and are on track to decrease full year 2026 free cash flow burn compared to 2025. We ended the quarter with approximately $1.2 billion in cash and investments. Turning to Slide 21. Over the past year, Screening non-GAAP gross margin improved from 18% in Q1 2025 to 56% in Q1 2026. This improvement has been driven by an increase in Shield ASP, as I outlined earlier, and a decrease in Shield non-GAAP cost per test from $520 in Q1 2025 to $420 in Q1 2026, which is a result of higher volumes, disciplined cost management and efficient lab operations. As a reminder, we continue to expect Shield cost per test to decline to approximately $200 at scale, driven by further volume growth as well as workflow efficiencies and automation, which we expect to implement in 2027. Turning to Slide 22. Based on our strong first quarter performance and increased visibility, we are raising our full year 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $1.30 billion to $1.32 billion, representing growth of 32% to 34%. Oncology revenue is now expected to grow 28% to 29% with volume growth of greater than 35%. Demand fundamentals remain strong across the portfolio. Guardant360 Liquid should continue to benefit from Smart App adoption, while Guardant360 Tissue is building on recent upgrades and strong commercial execution. Reveal is expected to remain our fastest-growing oncology product, driven by MRD and therapy monitoring. Our oncology guidance does not include potential upside from FDA approval of Guardant360 Liquid or the launch of Reveal Ultra. We continue to expect Biopharma & Data to grow in the low double-digit range, supported by recent strategic partnerships, continued progress in our CDx pipeline and a combination of ongoing collaborations and new program starts. Given the momentum exiting Q1, the impact we're seeing from our DTC and HCP campaigns and the launch of our Quest collaboration, we now expect Screening revenue of $186 million to $198 million, driven by Shield volume of approximately 230,000 to 245,000 tests. Note that this improved outlook does not include upside from ACS guideline inclusion, which we continue to expect in the near term. We continue to expect full year non-GAAP gross margin in the range of 64% to 65%, which reflects ongoing improvements to Guardant360 Liquid and Shield cost per test, balanced with changes to product mix as Shield and Reveal test volumes scale rapidly. Given the strength and momentum we're seeing with Shield, we plan to continue reinvesting incremental screening gross profit to support commercial expansion during the year. Accordingly, we now expect 2026 non-GAAP operating expenses to be in the range of $1.05 billion to $1.07 billion, representing growth of 16% to 18% compared to 2025. We continue to expect full year free cash flow burn to be in the range of $185 million to $195 million, representing an improvement year-over-year. Excluding Screening, we expect the remainder of the business to be free cash flow positive for the full year 2026, and we remain committed to achieving company-wide cash flow breakeven by the end of 2027. Turning to Slide 23, we are executing well against our key 2026 priorities. In Oncology, we will complete the Guardant360 Liquid NovaSeq X transition this month and expect multiple product launches, including Reveal Ultra, FDA-approved Guardant360 Liquid and continued expansion of the Smart platform. Guardant360 Liquid ESR1 monitoring launch is dependent on FDA approval of camizestrant. Last week, the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted [ 6 to 3 ] against the claim that camizestrant demonstrated clinically meaningful benefit in HR-positive HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. Ultimately, the FDA retains full discretion over its final decision, and we look forward to that outcome in the coming months. Importantly, the committee's discussion reinforced the broader consensus that ctDNA companion diagnostic therapy monitoring represents the future of precision oncology care. Furthermore, our revenue guidance does not reflect any impact from the potential approval of camizestrant. If it does receive FDA approval, this could represent a meaningful source of upside to Guardant360. In Biopharma & Data, we're advancing CDx programs and expanding strategic partnerships, including recent additions with leading biopharma companies and continue to scale our InfinityAI platform. In Screening, we've launched our Quest collaboration and expanded Shield into Multi-Cancer Detection markets in Asia through our partnership with Manulife. Overall, the business is delivering very strong growth, and we remain focused on disciplined execution as we scale. With that, we'll now open the call for questions.