Myriad Genetics plunged 38% in after-hours trading on July 30, 2026, after second-quarter revenue fell 11% and the company slashed its full-year outlook by roughly $90 million citing widespread payer-reimbursement friction.
- Q2 2026 revenue of $190.7M missed the $206M consensus by 7.4%; adjusted EPS came in at a loss of $0.25 vs. an expected loss near $0.05.
- Full-year 2026 revenue guidance was cut to $770M–$790M from a prior range of $860M–$880M.
- Elevated prior-authorization denials and a $15M combined write-off of aged receivables drove the shortfall across all three business segments.
Lead
Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN), a leading genetic testing lab specializing in hereditary cancer, prenatal screening, and pharmacogenomics, reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $190.7 million on July 30, down 11% year-over-year and $15.3 million below the Wall Street consensus of $206 million. The company simultaneously reduced its full-year revenue guidance to $770 million–$790 million from $860 million–$880 million — a cut of approximately 10% at the midpoint. Shares closed the regular session up 6.6% at $5.37 but collapsed 37.8% to $3.34 in after-hours trading, erasing more than a third of the company's market capitalization in a single session.What Happened
The Q2 shortfall was broad-based. Cancer Care Continuum revenue, Myriad's largest segment, fell 11% year-over-year to $114.1 million. Prenatal Health revenue declined 16% to $40 million, with test volumes down 9%. GeneSight, the company's pharmacogenomics platform for psychiatric medication selection, contracted 3% to $36.8 million. Across all segments, the average revenue per test dropped 9%, compounding a 1% slip in total test volumes.
Two discrete accounting items amplified the revenue shortfall: an $11 million headwind from lower prior-period collections tied to delayed payments, and a $4 million write-off of aged receivables that the company determined were unlikely to be collected. Together, those items represent roughly $15 million of revenue that was either deferred or permanently written off.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at a loss of $0.25, compared with consensus estimates near a loss of $0.04 to $0.06, a gap of roughly $0.20. The operating loss widened to $38.9 million. Gross margin guidance for the full year was trimmed to 66%–67%, and forward adjusted EBITDA guidance was suspended entirely, with management citing uncertainty around the timing of benefits from its "Ascend" cost-efficiency initiative.
The Reimbursement Problem
The core issue is a deteriorating relationship between dna sequencing-based diagnostic companies and commercial payers. Myriad CEO Sam Raha acknowledged in the earnings call that payers have significantly increased prior-authorization requirements, medical record requests, and outright denial rates for tests that clinicians have ordered as medically necessary. "Our second quarter 2026 performance fell short of our expectations," Raha said. "The facts are we have received orders from clinicians for medically necessary tests — yet we are not receiving payment in a timely manner."
Raha further conceded that the company "should have engaged earlier with payers" to mitigate the escalating friction, signaling that the reimbursement headwinds were, in part, a failure of proactive management rather than purely an external shock.
Prior-authorization barriers have become a sector-wide pressure point for genetic testing labs offering multi-gene panel assays, particularly as commercial insurers reassess coverage criteria for hereditary cancer screening and non-invasive prenatal testing — two of Myriad's highest-volume product lines.
Market Reaction
The after-hours move of −37.8% brings MYGN near the lower end of its 52-week range of $3.53–$8.59. With the post-earnings price implying a market capitalization of approximately $507 million, the company now trades at roughly 0.65× its revised annual revenue guidance midpoint — a sharp compression from the ~1× multiple that had prevailed earlier in 2026. Analyst price-target reductions pulled the consensus estimate toward $6.25–$7.00, still well above the after-hours price, reflecting residual concern that the guidance cut may not fully price in ongoing reimbursement deterioration.
Strategic Context
Myriad has been repositioning its portfolio around the Cancer Care Continuum, which includes the MyRisk Hereditary Cancer multi-gene panel, homologous recombination deficiency testing tied to PARP inhibitor selection, and nascent minimal-residual-disease detection offerings. That strategic pivot has been slowed by the very reimbursement dynamics now pressuring revenue: payers have been particularly aggressive in applying prior-authorization scrutiny to multi-gene hereditary cancer panels.
The Ascend efficiency program, intended to improve operating leverage, has not yet produced visible margin benefit — a gap the company declined to quantify with revised EBITDA guidance. The suspension of forward profitability targets removes a key investor anchor at an already unsettled moment.
Separately, the dna sequencing diagnostics sector faces a structural challenge as test menus expand faster than payer coverage policies update, creating a persistent lag between clinical ordering patterns and reimbursement realities. Myriad's situation is an acute expression of that dynamic.
Outlook
Myriad Genetics enters the second half of 2026 with a reduced revenue target of $770 million–$790 million, suspended EBITDA guidance, and a stock price testing multi-year lows. The company has identified payer engagement and receivables management as immediate operational priorities, though benefits from those efforts are unlikely to materialize before the fourth quarter at the earliest. Investors will watch whether reimbursement conditions stabilize, whether the Ascend cost program delivers measurable savings, and whether volume trends in hereditary cancer and prenatal testing can recover as the company addresses coverage disputes with commercial payers.
Mentioned tickers: MYGN




