This Cancer Screening Company Has A Better 5-Year Return Than Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson And Gilead

Small-cap stocks have a history of outperforming large-cap names as they have the potential for rapid growth and have event-driven moves for share prices.

A company focused on cancer screening and diagnostic tests has outperformed some of the largest healthcare companies over the last five years and went from small-cap to a market cap of more than $18 billion.

What To Know: In 2014, the FDA approved Cologuard, an at-home colon cancer screening platform from Exact Sciences Corporation EXAS.

At the time of the approval, the testing was for patients 50 years and older. In 2019, the FDA lowered the recommended age to 45 and older, bringing a larger addressable market size to Exact Sciences.

Exact Sciences stock steadily climbed after approval and the increased market size, making it a top performer over the last five years.

The company specializes in cancer screening and diagnostic testing with more than one million patients tested lifetime-to-date.

Exact Sciences reported second-quarter revenue of $434.8 million, up 62% year-over-year. The company is guiding for fiscal revenue to come in a range of $1.705 billion to $1.745 billion.

Related Link: Expert Ratings For Exact Sciences

The 5-Year Returns: Over the last five years, shares of Exact Sciences have increased in value by 483%, nearly 100% annually. Shares trade at $107.59 at the time of writing, towards the lower half of their 52-week range of $70.75 to $159.54.

The performance by EXAS shares has outpaced large-cap healthcare names that include:

• Pfizer Inc. PFE: +35%
• Johnson & Johnson JNJ: +47%
• Gilead Sciences GILD: -6%

Photo: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash