Exelixis Keeps Its 2026 Revenue Outlook Even As Cabometyx Sales Grow About 6% From The Prior Quarter
The CFO said the slower neuroendocrine build behind last quarter's guidance cut "continues today," while the company bought back about $250 million of stock.
Exelixis, the cancer-drug developer behind Cabometyx, left its full-year revenue forecast untouched even though third-quarter revenue reached about $659 million, Chief Financial Officer Chris Senner said on the company's earnings call Thursday. Pressed on why, he pointed back to last quarter's cut, which he tied to the "temporal nature" of the neuroendocrine tumor indication, and said "that continues today."
Why guidance did not move
An analyst asked why the company held its 2026 outlook when Cabometyx sales grew about 6% from the prior quarter and neuroendocrine momentum was building. Senner said the business is strong, but that the revenue growth tied to the slower-building neuroendocrine indication is the reason guidance was lowered last quarter, and it still applies.
He said the company is updating full-year guidance for changes to its cost of goods sold and tax rate estimates. Asked about the fourth-quarter tax rate, Senner said companies can fold items reserved in earlier periods into the rate once the October tax return is filed, as Exelixis did last year. He gave no longer-term guidance but said the expected rate is the federal rate or thereabouts.
Third-quarter provision for income taxes was about $64.7 million, against about $50.6 million in the second quarter.
Neuroendocrine share passes 50%
PJ Haley, Exelixis's Executive Vice President of Commercial, said Cabometyx's share of new patients on second-line-plus oral therapy in neuroendocrine tumors is now above 50%. More patients on therapy should keep lifting refills, he said, and the disease's slow-moving nature means patients tend to stay on treatment a long time.
Cabometyx net product revenue grew 12% from a year earlier, Haley said. CEO Mike Morrissey said the U.S. Cabo franchise grew about 11% to $605 million, and the global franchise, including partners, grew about 11% to $818 million. Exelixis, which sells cabozantinib in the U.S. and collects royalties from Ipsen and Takeda elsewhere, booked about $52 million in royalties in the quarter.
Discounts, inventory and buybacks
Senner said the franchise's gross-to-net deduction, the gap between list and realized price, was about 29% in the third quarter, below the second quarter because of lower 340B discounts. The company now projects about 30% for the full year. Trade inventory stood at 1.8 weeks, down from the second quarter.
Third-quarter GAAP net income was about $218 million, or $0.85 per diluted share; adjusted net income was about $240 million, or $0.94 per diluted share. Cash and marketable securities were about $1.4 billion.
Exelixis repurchased about $250 million of stock in the quarter, retiring about 4.5 million shares at an average $55.77. About $348 million remains under the $750 million plan the board authorized in May 2026.
Dana Aftab, Executive Vice President of Research and Development, said the PDUFA action date, the FDA's target decision date, for zanzalintinib in colorectal cancer is now March 3, 2027, and that top-line results from the Stellar 304 kidney cancer trial are expected in the first quarter next year.
Sources
- Exelixis Non-GAAP EPS of $0.94 beats by $0.04, revenue of $658.7M beats by $10.19M (EXEL:NASDAQ) | Seeking Alpha — seekingalpha.com
- Exelixis (EXEL) Surpasses Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates — Yahoo Finance
- Exelixis: Q3 Earnings Snapshot – WTOP News — wtop.com
- Exelixis to Release Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results on Thursday, October 29, 2026 – Company Announcement - FT.com — Financial Times
- Exelixis: Q3 Earnings Snapshot | wusa9.com — Associated Press
