How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.

Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Veracyte (VCYT) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to VCYT for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Veracyte's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Veracyte's main business drivers.

Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Veracyte is a global diagnostics company that provides clinicians valuable insights to diagnose and treat cancer. The company has a wide array of advanced genomic tests that leverage deep scientific, clinical and machine learning expertise and other capabilities. Presently, the portfolio includes Afirma (for thyroid cancer), Decipher Prostate (prostate cancer), Prosigna (breast cancer), Envisia (interstitial lung diseases) and Decipher Bladder (bladder cancer), with additional tests in development.

These high-performing tests improve diagnostic, prognostic and treatment decisions in cancer and other challenging diseases, helping patients avoid unnecessary procedures and reduce time in finding appropriate treatment.  In the United States, Veracyte offers tests through its central laboratories and makes the tests accessible to patients worldwide by collaborating with local labs. 

The company recognizes revenues from three sources:

Testing revenues (90.4% of total revenues in 2023, up 30.3% from 2022): Upon delivery of the test results, the company bills for testing services considering factors such as payer reimbursement history, contracts and coverage.

Product revenues (4.3% of 2023 revenues; up 23.4%):  Includes revenues from Prosigna breast cancer assay, the nCounter Analysis System (acquired from Nanostring Technologies, Inc. in 2019) and related diagnostic kits.

Biopharmaceutical and other revenues (5.2% of 2023 revenues; down 43.2%): Includes revenues from licensing or providing access to the company’s assets and services, including testing and contract manufacturing.

The company’s 2021 acquisition of Decipher Biosciences expanded its genomic testing menu into urologic cancers and provided Decipher GRID (Genomic Resource for Intelligent Discovery) — a platform and database that helps drive biopharmaceutical partnerships, key opinion leaders (KOL) engagement and pipeline development in urologic cancers.

In the same year, Veracyte acquired HalioDx, which enabled it to produce its own in vitro diagnostic (IVD) test kits for use on the nCounter Analysis System. Veracyte intends to migrate the manufacture of the test kits for the nCounter from NanoString to HalioDx.

Bottom Line

Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of a few things: research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Veracyte a decade ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in October 2014 would be worth $3,434.38, or a 243.44% gain, as of October 4, 2024. Investors should keep in mind that this return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

The S&P 500 rose 189.65% and the price of gold increased 114.20% over the same time frame in comparison.

Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for VCYT.

Veracyte continues with a robust display of strength in the testing business using its established diagnostic platform. Affirma’s differentiation is leading to market share gains. The new GRID ROU tool is gaining strong interest from physicians, while the MolDX’s finalization of an expanded local coverage determination for Afirma reinforces the company’s competitive position. The Decipher Prostrate test is also making strides, achieving a ‘Level 1B’ designation in the updated NCCN guidelines and advancing on the reimbursement front. Veracyte’s strategic R&D investment in long-term growth driver projects is paying off. Favorable solvency appears encouraging. Meanwhile, the company’s biopharma business faces challenges due to industry-wide spending constraints and less projects.

The stock has jumped 10.75% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 3 higher, for fiscal 2024; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Veracyte, Inc. (VCYT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research