This Cancer Screening Company Has A Better 5-Year Return Than Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson And Gilead

Small-cap stocks have a history of outperforming large-cap names as they have the potential for rapid growth and have event-driven moves for share prices.

A company focused on cancer screening and diagnostic tests has outperformed some of the largest healthcare companies over the last five years and went from small-cap to a market cap of more than $18 billion.

What To Know: In 2014, the FDA approved Cologuard, an at-home colon cancer screening platform from Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ: EXAS).

At the time of the approval, the testing was for patients 50 years and older. In 2019, the FDA lowered the recommended age to 45 and older, bringing a larger addressable market size to Exact Sciences.

Exact Sciences stock steadily climbed after approval and the increased market size, making it a top performer over the last five years.

The company specializes in cancer screening and diagnostic testing with more than one million patients tested lifetime-to-date.

Exact Sciences reported second-quarter revenue of $434.8 million, up 62% year-over-year. The company is guiding for fiscal revenue to come in a range of $1.705 billion to $1.745 billion.

Related Link: Expert Ratings For Exact Sciences

The 5-Year Returns: Over the last five years, shares of Exact Sciences have increased in value by 483%, nearly 100% annually. Shares trade at $107.59 at the time of writing, towards the lower half of their 52-week range of $70.75 to $159.54.

The performance by EXAS shares has outpaced large-cap healthcare names that include:

• Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE): +35%
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ): +47%
• Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD): -6%

Photo: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash