There are many companies losing out over the economic impact of the pandemic, but Quest Diagnostics is one that is booming as a result.
The New Jersey-based testing company has seen sales hit $2.78 billion for the third quarter, up more than 42% on the year-ago period, with sales up 11% to $6.43 billion for the nine-month period.
What’s driving this growth? COVID-19 testing. The company has now performed more than 22 million molecular and serology tests to date, what it says is “more than any other provider.”
That sharp increase in demand has spiked revenue for 2020 and seen it up its guidance to a high of $9.1 billion for the full year, up from the $8.8 billion previously projected.
The medtech company had been given a cash boost earlier this year out of the CARES Act as part of a tranche of funds given out to life science companies to help support work for COVID-19.
But now, Quest says it is giving that money back. “We are grateful for the CARES Act funding that provided our company with support earlier this year at a time of great uncertainty for our nation,” said Steve Rusckowski, chairman, CEO and president at Quest.
“Several months into this pandemic, we do not require this funding. As a result, we believe returning these funds to the government now is the right thing to do.”
The boon for testing companies is really taking hold, as also witnessed earlier this week when Thermo Fisher announced it raked in $2 billion in coronavirus-related revenue in the last quarter alone, fueling a 36% year-over-year increase in overall sales.
Testing times means something very different to these companies in 2020.