Key Takeaways

• Exact Sciences shares plunged Wednesday after the company reported widening losses.

• The maker of the Cologuard colon cancer screening test lowered its full-year outlook.

• CEO Kevin Conroy said the firm's quarterly execution and forecast don't reflect its full potential.

Exact Sciences (EXAS) shares plunged Wednesday after the maker of the Cologuard colon cancer screening test reported widening losses and cut its outlook.

The company reported a third-quarter net loss of $38.2 million or 21 cents per share, widening from a net loss of $15.8 million or 9 cents per share in the previous quarter. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for a loss of $33.9 million or 18 cents per share. Revenue was up 12.8% from a year ago to $708.7 million, but that was also below analysts' forecasts.

The revenue gains came as screening revenue rose 15.4% to $544.9 million, and Precision Oncology revenue grew 5.4% to $163.8 million.

CEO Kevin Conroy said that while Exact Sciences has made progress, “our execution during the third quarter and updated outlook for the full year don’t reflect our full potential.”

The company said it now anticipates full-year adjusted earnings in a range of $310 million to $320 million, compared to its previous outlook of $335 million to $355 million. It projects revenue of $2.73 billion to $2.75 billion, down from the earlier estimate of $2.81 billion to $2.85 billion.

Shares of Exact Sciences were down nearly 30% in intraday trading Wednesday following the news.