Caris Life Sciences Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
Rhea-AI Summary
Caris Life Sciences (Nasdaq: CAI) reported Q1 2026 results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Total revenue $216.2M, up 79% year‑over‑year; molecular profiling revenue $210.8M. Reported gross margin 65%, net loss $0.5M, and Adjusted EBITDA $26.2M. Q1 operating cash flow was $32.9M; free cash flow $22.5M. Company reaffirmed 2026 revenue guidance of $1.0–$1.02B and ~20% clinical therapy selection volume growth.
Operational highlights include ~52,800 clinical therapy selection cases, Achieve 1 study results, new assay launches, and a $400M refinanced credit facility.
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
Positive
- Total revenue +79% to $216.2M
- Molecular profiling revenue +85% to $210.8M
- Gross margin improved to 65% (≈1,800 bps)
- Positive Adjusted EBITDA of $26.2M
- Net cash provided by operations $32.9M
Negative
- Operating expenses increased 18% to $136.1M
- Annual bonus payments included in cash flow totaled $30.5M
- Net loss persisted at $0.5M despite profitability metrics
- Increased stock-based compensation and headcount costs
News Market Reaction – CAI
On the day this news was published, CAI declined 18.60%, reflecting a significant negative market reaction. Argus tracked a trough of -12.5% from its starting point during tracking. Our momentum scanner triggered 33 alerts that day, indicating elevated trading interest and price volatility. This price movement removed approximately $1.28B from the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $5.61B at that time.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
Pre-news, CAI showed a modest 0.95% gain while key biotech peers were mixed: MRNA +3.62%, MDGL +1.61%, ROIV +1.23%, HALO -0.67%, VRNA roughly flat. No broad, synchronized sector move is indicated.
Previous Earnings Reports
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 26 | FY 2025 earnings | Positive | +4.7% | Reported strong 2025 growth, high margins and outlined 2026 revenue outlook. |
| Jan 12 | Prelim 2025 results | Positive | -10.2% | Preliminary Q4 and FY 2025 results showed strong growth in profiling revenue. |
| Nov 05 | Q3 2025 earnings | Positive | -15.8% | Q3 2025 revenue more than doubled with higher margins and raised guidance. |
| Aug 12 | Q2 2025 earnings | Positive | +5.6% | Q2 2025 showed strong revenue growth, higher case volumes and positive cash flow. |
Earnings releases have produced mixed reactions: 2 positive and 2 negative moves despite generally strong growth metrics, highlighting event-driven volatility.
Over the past few quarters, Caris has reported rapid revenue growth and improving profitability metrics, including FY 2025 revenue of $812.0M and positive Adjusted EBITDA of $137.7M. Quarterly updates often paired strong molecular profiling momentum with raised or reaffirmed guidance, such as 2026 revenue of $1.0B–$1.02B. Market reactions have been inconsistent, with both double-digit gains and losses following earnings. Today’s Q1 2026 results continue the theme of high growth and margin expansion within that volatile backdrop.
Historical Comparison
In the past 12 months, CAI has had 4 earnings-related releases with an average move of -3.92%, showing that reactions to strong financial updates have often been volatile or negative.
Earnings updates show a progression from strong 2025 growth of $812.0M revenue and positive Adjusted EBITDA to reaffirmed 2026 revenue guidance of $1.0B–$1.02B, with Q1 2026 results fitting into this high-growth trajectory.
Market Pulse Summary
The stock dropped -18.6% in the session following this news. A negative reaction despite strong Q1 2026 metrics—revenue of $216.2M, 79% growth, and a 65% gross margin—would fit a pattern where earnings have averaged a -3.92% move and sometimes sold off on good news. Prior volatility around guidance and growth updates suggests event risk remains high, and the stock’s position well below its 200-day MA could amplify downside pressure.
Key Terms
adjusted ebitda financial
molecular profiling medical
whole genome medical
whole transcriptome medical
hr+/her2− medical
nsclc medical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
Revenue growth of
First Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights
- Reported total revenue of
$216.2 million 79% over the corresponding prior year period. - Completed approximately 52,800 clinical therapy selection cases, an increase of approximately
15% over the corresponding prior year period, consisting of approximately 43,600 MI Profile cases and approximately 9,200 Caris Assure cases. - Reported gross margin of
65% , an approximate 1,800 bps improvement over the corresponding prior year period. - Reported net loss of
$0.5 million - Reported positive Adjusted EBITDA of
$26.2 million - Reported positive net cash provided by operating activities of
$32.9 million $22.5 million $30.5 million
"We delivered another strong quarter with record performance for February and March following our January sales re-alignment. This performance underscores the continued demand for our platform and the strength of our comprehensive, patient-first approach," said David Dean Halbert, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Caris Life Sciences. "We are also encouraged by the Achieve 1 data, including the blinded readout, which demonstrates the superior performance of our whole genome technology over inferior techniques such as methylation. We remain focused on strengthening Caris Detect through the incorporation of additional pillars in advance of our upcoming launch."
Recent Operating Highlights
- Re-aligned sales force in January 2026, and exited at a quarterly run-rate of approximately 56,000 completed cases for February and March.
- Reported Achieve 1 study results reinforcing the superior sensitivity and specificity of Caris Detect.
- Launched and received MolDX approval for Caris ChromoSeq, Caris' comprehensive whole genome tumor profiling assay for myeloid malignancies.
- Launched Caris MI Clarity next-generation prognostic tool that leverages multimodal AI technology and computational pathology to deliver rapid, clinically actionable results for HR+/HER2−, postmenopausal, node-negative early-stage breast cancer patients.
- Powered by comprehensive approach of whole exome and whole transcriptome, launched the following new Caris AI Insights:
- Guiding first-line therapy selection and treatment de-escalation in pancreatic cancer
- Identifying early platinum resistance in ovarian cancer
- Identifying the benefit or harm from the addition of chemotherapy for NSCLC patients
- Surpassed 1,070,000 total profiles and 790,000 total matched profiles through March 31, 2026.
- More than 677,000 whole exome and 728,000 whole transcriptome profiles through March 31, 2026.
- Refinanced
$400 million
First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
Total revenue was
The increase in total revenue was driven primarily by an
Gross profit, calculated as total revenue less cost of services, for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, was
Operating expenses were
Net loss was
Net cash provided by operating activities was
2026 Financial Outlook and Guidance
Caris Life Sciences reaffirms its guidance for full year 2026 revenue to be in the range of
Conference Call Information
Event: Caris First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call
Date: Thursday, May 7, 2026
Time: 3:30 p.m. CT (4:30 p.m. ET)
Webcast Link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/6iwr2xf8/
Accompanying materials will be posted on our investor relations website at https://investor.carislifesciences.com prior to the conference call. A replay of the conference call will be available on our investor relations website shortly after the conclusion of the call.
About Caris Life Sciences
Caris Life Sciences® (Caris) is a leading, patient-centric, next-generation AI TechBio company and precision medicine pioneer actively developing and commercializing innovative solutions to transform healthcare. Through comprehensive molecular profiling (Whole Genome, Whole Exome and Whole Transcriptome Sequencing), advanced AI and machine learning, Caris has created the large-scale, multimodal clinico-genomic database and computing capability needed to analyze and further unravel the molecular complexity of disease. This convergence of next-generation sequencing, AI and machine learning technologies and high-performance computing provides a differentiated platform for developing the latest generation of advanced precision medicine diagnostic solutions for early detection, diagnosis, monitoring, therapy selection and drug development.
Caris was founded with a vision to realize the potential of precision medicine to improve the human condition. Headquartered in
We intend to use the investor page of our website, https://investor.carislifesciences.com, as a distribution channel of material information about the Company and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. The information we post on our investor webpage may be deemed material. Accordingly, investors should subscribe to our investor alerts, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls and webcasts.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our business, solutions, plans, objectives, goals, industry trends, financial outlook and guidance. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "may," "will," "should," "would," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "could," "intend," "target," "project," "potential," "contemplate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," or "continue" or similar expressions.
You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information currently available to us, we cannot guarantee that the future results, discoveries, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. Risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release include, among other things: technical, operational and implementation requirements the failure of which affect the timing of or prevent commercialization of Caris Detect; future performance and clinical utility of Caris Detect; developments in the precision medicine industry; our future financial performance, results of operations or other operational results or metrics; development, analytical and clinical validation, timing and performance of future solutions by us and our competitors; commercial market acceptance for our solutions, including acceptance of preventive as well as diagnostic testing paradigms, and our ability to meet resulting demand; the rapidly evolving competitive environment in which we operate; third-party payer reimbursement and coverage decisions related to our solutions; the impact on our future volumes of the continued execution of our strategy to re-align and expand our sales organization; risks related to data management, storage, and processing capabilities and our ability to integrate and deploy artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics technologies; our ability to protect and enhance our intellectual property; regulatory requirements, decisions or approvals (including the timing and conditions thereof) related to our solutions; reliance on third-party suppliers; risks related to data security, patient privacy, and compliance with healthcare data protection regulations as well as potential cybersecurity threats to our data platforms; our compliance with laws and regulations; the outcome of government investigations and litigation; risks related to our indebtedness; and our ability to hire and retain key personnel as well as risks, uncertainties, and other factors described in the section titled "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 3, 2026, and in our other filings we make with the SEC from time to time. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect changes in events, circumstances or our beliefs after the date of this press release, except as required by law.
Non-GAAP Measures
We use Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow, financial measures not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in
We define Adjusted EBITDA as net loss, adjusted to exclude interest income, interest expense, changes in fair value of financial instruments, other expense, net, the provision for (benefit from) income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and stock-based compensation expense. We use Adjusted EBITDA in conjunction with GAAP measures as part of our overall assessment of our performance, including the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, and to communicate with our board of directors concerning our financial performance. We believe Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management team and board of directors. Adjusted EBITDA provides a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of our business, as it removes the effect of certain non-cash expenses and certain variable charges.
We define free cash flow as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities less purchases of property and equipment. We believe free cash flow is a useful measure of liquidity that provides an additional basis for assessing our ability to generate cash.
A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release to the respective comparable GAAP financial measures, can be found below.
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Caris Life Sciences, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss (unaudited)
| |||
(amounts in thousands, except share and per share data) | Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
2026 | 2025 | ||
Revenue: | |||
Molecular profiling services | $ 210,800 | $ 114,081 | |
Pharma research and development services | 5,374 | 6,834 | |
Total revenue | 216,174 | 120,915 | |
Costs and operating expenses: | |||
Cost of Services - Molecular profiling services | 72,884 | 60,894 | |
Cost of Services - Pharma research and development services | 1,942 | 2,958 | |
Selling and marketing expense | 45,043 | 39,829 | |
General and administrative expense | 59,708 | 52,119 | |
Research and development expense | 31,315 | 23,066 | |
Total costs and operating expenses | 210,892 | 178,867 | |
Income (Loss) from operations | 5,282 | (57,952) | |
Other expense, net: | |||
Interest income | 6,834 | 503 | |
Interest expense | (12,809) | (12,782) | |
Changes in fair value of financial instruments | — | (32,333) | |
Other income (expense), net | 49 | (17) | |
Total other expense, net | (5,926) | (44,629) | |
Loss before income taxes and income tax benefit | (644) | (102,581) | |
Income tax benefit | 134 | — | |
Net loss | (510) | (102,581) | |
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax: | |||
Foreign currency translation adjustments | (43) | 35 | |
Comprehensive loss | (553) | (102,546) | |
Net loss attributable to common shareholders: | |||
Net loss | (510) | (102,581) | |
Adjustments of redeemable convertible preferred stock to redemption value | — | (24,462) | |
Net loss attributable to common shareholders | $ (510) | $ (127,043) | |
Net loss per share attributable to common shareholders, basic and diluted | $ 0.00 | $ (3.57) | |
Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share attributable | 282,562,013 | 35,623,042 | |
Caris Life Sciences, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited)
| |||
(amounts in thousands, except share data) | As of March 31, | As of December 31, | |
2026 | 2025 | ||
Assets | |||
Current assets: | |||
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | $ 821,147 | $ 797,799 | |
Short-term marketable securities | 2,315 | 2,295 | |
Accounts receivable | 90,517 | 112,140 | |
Supplies | 76,289 | 63,625 | |
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 23,912 | 21,941 | |
Total current assets | 1,014,180 | 997,800 | |
Property and equipment, net | 82,669 | 63,170 | |
Goodwill | 19,344 | 19,344 | |
Other assets | 46,195 | 45,349 | |
Total assets | $ 1,162,388 | $ 1,125,663 | |
Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity | |||
Current liabilities: | |||
Accounts payable | $ 69,802 | $ 39,206 | |
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities | 73,921 | 87,770 | |
Current portion of indebtedness | 173 | 169 | |
Total current liabilities | 143,896 | 127,145 | |
Long-term indebtedness, net of debt discounts | 381,402 | 378,823 | |
Other long-term liabilities | 43,600 | 42,388 | |
Total liabilities | 568,898 | 548,356 | |
Commitments and contingencies | |||
Shareholders' equity: | |||
Preferred stock, | — | — | |
Common stock, | 284 | 283 | |
Treasury stock at cost, 1,611,713 shares of common stock as of | (16,896) | (16,896) | |
Additional paid-in capital | 3,158,455 | 3,141,720 | |
Accumulated deficit | (2,549,246) | (2,548,736) | |
Accumulated other comprehensive income | 893 | 936 | |
Total shareholders' equity | 593,490 | 577,307 | |
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity | $ 1,162,388 | $ 1,125,663 | |
Caris Life Sciences, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows (unaudited)
| |||
(amounts in thousands) | Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
2026 | 2025 | ||
Cash flows from operating activities | |||
Net loss | $ (510) | $ (102,581) | |
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | |||
Depreciation and amortization | 5,065 | 7,045 | |
Stock-based compensation expense | 15,872 | 14,691 | |
Non-cash operating lease expense | 1,323 | 1,452 | |
Amortization of debt discounts | 2,624 | 1,945 | |
Changes in fair value of financial instruments | — | 32,333 | |
Other | 214 | 456 | |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | |||
Accounts receivable | 21,623 | 7,913 | |
Supplies | (13,328) | 2,061 | |
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | (1,554) | 2,470 | |
Other assets | 153 | 36 | |
Accounts payable | 16,371 | (1,739) | |
Accrued expenses and other liabilities | (14,977) | 2,580 | |
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities | 32,876 | (31,338) | |
Cash flows from investing activities | |||
Purchases of property and equipment | (10,342) | (2,689) | |
Net cash used in investing activities | (10,342) | (2,689) | |
Cash flows from financing activities | |||
Payments made on finance lease obligations | (40) | (22) | |
Proceeds from exercise of stock options | 920 | 1,434 | |
Payment of taxes withheld from net settlement of exercised options | (56) | — | |
Payment of deferred offering costs | — | (105) | |
Repurchase of common stock | — | (22) | |
Net cash provided by financing activities | 824 | 1,285 | |
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted | (10) | 4 | |
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | 23,348 | (32,738) | |
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period | 800,042 | 68,028 | |
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period | $ 823,390 | $ 35,290 | |
Reconciliation of GAAP Net Loss to Adjusted EBITDA (unaudited)
| |||
(amounts in thousands) | Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
2026 | 2025 | ||
Net loss | $ (510) | $ (102,581) | |
Interest income | (6,834) | (503) | |
Interest expense | 12,809 | 12,782 | |
Changes in fair value of financial instruments | — | 32,333 | |
Other income (expense), net | (49) | 17 | |
Income tax benefit | (134) | — | |
Depreciation and amortization expense | 5,065 | 7,045 | |
Stock-based compensation expense | 15,872 | 14,691 | |
Adjusted EBITDA | $ 26,219 | $ (36,216) | |
Reconciliation of Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities to Free Cash Flow (unaudited)
| |||
(amounts in thousands) | Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
2026 | 2025 | ||
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities | $ 32,876 | $ (31,338) | |
Less: purchases of property and equipment | (10,342) | (2,689) | |
Free cash flow | $ 22,534 | $ (34,027) | |
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SOURCE Caris Life Sciences