Biodesix Shares Plunge About 47% As Company Resets Revenue Forecast To $101–$103 Million
Testing volumes rose 24%, but sales-team shortfalls, seasonal ordering and delayed development projects held growth below management’s expectations.
Biodesix, which sells blood-based lung-disease tests and testing services for drug developers, saw its shares plunge about 47% to $10.43 in Friday trading following Thursday’s results update. The company reset its 2026 revenue forecast to $101 million–$103 million after third-quarter growth fell short of management’s expectations; the midpoint represents approximately 15% growth over 2025.
More Tests, Less Revenue Per Test
Third-quarter revenue reached $24.0 million, up 10% from a year earlier. Diagnostic Testing supplied $23.0 million of that total, growing 16%, while test volumes increased 24% to 19,400.
The gap between volume and revenue growth came from lower average revenue per test. Biodesix attributed that decline mainly to Nodify CDT accounting for a larger share of lung-test volume. Development Services brought in $1.0 million, versus $1.9 million a year earlier, as project completion and the recording of revenue shifted between periods.
The lung-testing business offers healthcare providers tests that assess cancer risk in nodules and help guide treatment after diagnosis. Medicare and private insurers are among the third-party payers that mainly pay for testing. Development Services supplies testing and consulting to biopharmaceutical, life-sciences and diagnostics companies.
Chief Executive Officer Scott Hutton said the quarter’s problems were “largely execution and timing related rather than a change in demand, clinical utility, or market opportunity.” Fewer productive sales representatives than planned limited growth in new physicians and accounts; stronger-than-expected seasonality reduced ordering, particularly in primary care; and customer dependencies delayed development-project starts.
Hutton said corrective measures were in place and the sales organization was larger entering the fourth quarter. He also said October delivered the year’s strongest month for adding new physicians.
Cash Falls Despite Share Sales
Biodesix finished the quarter with a cash balance of $28.4 million, down $1.6 million from June 30 even with $6.3 million in net proceeds from its program selling shares into the market.
Losses narrowed, but the company remained unprofitable. Its $8.0 million net loss improved 8% from a year earlier, and its adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization narrowed 16% to $3.9 million.
Gross margin—the revenue left after direct costs—held at 81%. Biodesix credited higher testing volumes and more efficient laboratory workflows with lowering cost per test. Operating expenses excluding direct costs rose 3% to $25.5 million, including $0.9 million of non-cash stock compensation, down 19% year over year.
Lung Diagnostics Beyond Blood Tests
Biodesix is also developing a lung-nodule risk test that analyzes imaging, working with Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Health. Commercial availability is anticipated in 2028. The broader Digital Diagnostics strategy combines blood biomarkers, imaging biomarkers and artificial intelligence.
The company announced complementary programs to monitor molecular residual disease—traces of cancer remaining after treatment—with Bio-Rad Laboratories and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Investigators at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center are helping validate both programs, which are designed for use through a central laboratory and partner platforms in laboratories globally.
The American College of Chest Physicians’ lung-nodule framework identifies validated biomarker testing, including Nodify Lung, as part of standardized risk assessment. Biodesix also presented sponsored and independent evidence at CHEST 2026, including analyses covering more than 2,000 patients from its CLARIFY study.
The revised outlook incorporates the quarter’s results, sales-team expansion and expected development-contract timing. Biodesix expects gross margins of approximately 80% as it works toward profitability.
Sources
- 8-K Filing — BIODESIX INC (BDSX) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit bdsx-ex99_1.htm — BIODESIX INC 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- Biodesix Stock Crashes Nearly 30% After Q3 Revenue Miss, Slashes 2026 Outlook — benzinga.com
- Biodesix expects $101M-$103M 2026 revenue while planning to exit 2026 with ~115 sales reps (NASDAQ:BDSX) | Seeking Alpha — seekingalpha.com
- Biodesix Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript — benzinga.com
- Biodesix to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences — globenewswire.com
