Quest Diagnostics Gains Steam With Partnerships, Lifts Outlook

by | Apr 21, 2026 | General

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) on Tuesday reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.50 per share, beating the consensus of $2.35.

Quest Diagnostics Reports Strong Organic Growth

The provider of diagnostic information services reported sales of $2.895 billion, up 9.2% year over year, beating the consensus of $2.827 billion. Consolidated organic revenues grew by 9%.

Operating income increased 15.5% to $399 million. Adjusted operating income was $447 million, or a margin of 15.4%, compared to $406 million, or 15.3% of revenues, last year.

Volume Growth Driven By Partnerships, Core Demand

Total volume, measured by the number of requisitions, increased 10.9% versus the first quarter of 2025, with organic volume up by 10.8%. Fresenius Medical Care and Corewell Health contributed approximately 7% to organic volume growth in the quarter.

Organic volume growth in the quarter was 3.8%, excluding the favorable impact from these two relationships.

“During the first quarter, we grew revenues over 9%, almost entirely from organic revenue growth, on broad-based demand for our clinical innovations, expansion into new clinical areas, and collaborations with elite healthcare and consumer health organizations,” said Jim Davis, Chairman, CEO, and President.

“In addition, we grew adjusted diluted earnings per share by approximately 13%, supported by productivity gains from our deployment of automation and AI across our operations, both in and outside our labs,” Davis commented.

Raises Full-Year Outlook Following Strong Start

“Given the solid performance in the first quarter, we are raising our full-year revenue and EPS estimates,” said Sam Samad, CFO of Quest Diagnostics.

Quest Diagnostics raised fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings per share guidance from $10.50-$10.70 to $10.63-$10.83 compared to the consensus of $10.55.

The company also raised its fiscal 2026 sales guidance from $11.7 billion-$11.82 billion to $11.78 billion-$11.9 billion compared to the Wall Street estimate of $11.75 billion.

DGX Price Action: Quest Diagnostics shares were up 5.17% at $206.46 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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