Quest volume surge

Quest Diagnostics raised its 2026 forecast after first-quarter testing volumes jumped, giving the lab company an early lift from routine care and newer specialty tests. (newsroom.questdiagnostics.com) The company said April 21 that first-quarter revenue rose 9.2% from a year earlier to $2.90 billion, while adjusted earnings per share increased 13.1% to $2.50. Quest now expects 2026 revenue of $11.78 billion to $11.90 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $10.63 to $10.83. (newsroom.questdiagnostics.com) The clearest driver was volume. Quest said requisitions, its count of test orders, increased 10.9% in the quarter, while revenue per requisition slipped 1.3% from a year earlier. (zacks.com) Quest runs one of the country’s largest medical lab networks, processing blood, urine and other samples ordered by doctors, hospitals and consumers. Reuters reported the company tied the stronger quarter to resilient demand for routine diagnostic testing. (msn.com) The company also used the quarter to point investors toward businesses it has been building beyond standard physician-office testing. Quest said advanced diagnostics posted double-digit revenue growth in several categories, including its AD-Detect blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease and cardiometabolic and endocrine testing. (newsroom.questdiagnostics.com) Part of that expansion has come from partnerships and acquisitions completed over the past year. Quest’s 2025 annual report said the company expanded through a joint venture with Corewell Health in Michigan and acquisitions tied to LifeLabs in Canada and dialysis-testing assets from Fresenius Medical Care. (sec.gov) Quest has also been pushing harder into direct-to-consumer testing. The company’s 2025 annual report said its MyQuest patient portal had more than 45 million registered users at year-end 2025, and 360Dx reported the consumer-initiated testing business generated roughly $250 million in 2025 revenue. (sec.gov) (360dx.com) Analysts moved quickly after the report. BofA analyst Michael Ryskin raised his price target on Quest to $198 from $190 and kept a Buy rating, according to a report carried by Yahoo Finance from The Fly. (finance.yahoo.com) For Quest, the updated outlook puts more weight on whether this quarter’s volume gains hold through the rest of 2026. The company’s next reports will show whether routine testing, consumer demand and higher-end diagnostics can keep moving together. (newsroom.questdiagnostics.com)