Quest Diagnostics Inc. DGX is well-poised to grow in the coming quarters owing to its continued strength in the Diagnostic Information Services (“DIS”) segment, reflecting strong growth in the physician, hospital and consumer channels. The company is seeing continued momentum in Advanced Diagnostics, including the strong uptake of the AD-Detect blood test. The enterprise-wide adoption of AI, automation and other technologies is expected to drive operational improvements.
Over the past year, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock has rallied 6.6% compared with the industry’s 0.5% growth and the S&P 500 composite’s 29.6% rise.
The renowned provider of diagnostic information services has a market capitalization of $20.66 billion. Quest Diagnostics has an earnings yield of 5.73% compared with the industry’s 5.6% yield. The company’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 3.5%.
Tailwinds for DGX
Growth Momentum in DIS Business: Quest Diagnostics’ solutions are focused on meeting the evolving needs of its core customers — physicians, hospitals and consumers. In the first quarter of 2026, physician channel revenue growth was supported by strong demand for clinical innovations, broader health plan access and increased contribution from enterprise accounts. The company also recorded gains in end-stage renal disease, supported by Fresenius Medical Care’s nationwide dialysis clinic network, along with the newly added independent dialysis clinics and other providers using Quest Diagnostics’ lab and water purity testing.
In the hospital channel, the company’s flexible solutions allow customers to free up capital while accessing diagnostic innovation and expertise. In early 2026, Quest Diagnostics began scaling its Co-Lab Solutions across all 21 hospitals of Corewell Health. The company is also advancing its joint venture with Corewell Health, with plans to open a state-of-the-art lab in Southeast Michigan next year. Co-Lab solutions are expected to generate approximately $1 billion in annual revenues in 2026.
The consumer-testing platform, QuestHealth.com, continues to gain strong momentum. Quest Diagnostics is deepening partnerships with leading consumer health and wellness brands like WHOOP and OURA Health, integrating its extensive laboratory testing and technology directly into their mobile platforms.
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Strong Potential of Advanced Diagnostics: Quest Diagnostics drives growth across its customer channels through fast-growing, advanced diagnostics across five clinical areas — advanced cardiometabolic, autoimmune, brain health, oncology, and women's and reproductive health. In brain health, revenues from the AD-Detect blood test for Alzheimer's disease continued to grow at a double-digit rate in the first quarter of 2026. The cardiometabolic and endocrine portfolio growth was driven by robust demand for tests of Lp(a) and ApoB, as well as for kidney, liver and reproductive hormones, supported by the new guidelines from the American Heart Association.
In oncology, the company continues to build its presence in blood-based minimal residual disease (MRD) testing. In January 2026, new research presented at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium highlighted the strong clinical value of Quest Haystack MRD in monitoring colorectal cancer. The company also launched the Flow Cytometry MRD blood test for myeloma. In the long term, Quest Diagnostics plans to sustain the growth momentum in each of the five areas.
Focus on Operational Excellence: Quest Diagnostics’ Invigorate program consistently targets 2% annual savings through structured plans to drive savings and improve productivity across the value chain. The company is deploying automation and AI technologies to improve quality, service, efficiency and the workforce experience.
Quest Diagnostics is scaling the planning and design work for Project Nova, a multi-year initiative to transform its order-to-cash processes and systems and is on track to implement the first wave of solutions in the fall of 2027. Quest Diagnostics is partnering with Epic to assist in the implementation of Project Nova. In 2025, the company teamed up with Google Cloud to streamline data management and employ GenAI to personalize customer and employee experiences.
Concerns for DGX
Escalating Debt Level: At the end of the first quarter of 2026, long-term debt totaled $5.16 billion, while the cash and cash equivalent balance was only $393 million. The current portion of the debt was $503 million. Debt-to-capital ratio was 42.5%, down sequentially 1.6%. The times interest ratio, which indicates the company’s capacity to pay interest, was 6.3% in the quarter.
Macroeconomic Volatility: As the U.S. healthcare system continues to evolve, Quest Diagnostics faces several inherent risks. Government payers, such as Medicare and Medicaid, have taken steps to reduce the utilization and reimbursement of healthcare services, including clinical testing services. Meanwhile, the industry-wide trend of consolidation has resulted in larger insurance plans with significant bargaining power, making it difficult for Quest Diagnostics to negotiate fee arrangements and possibly limiting access to its newer innovative solutions. With the new U.S. administration in place, any changes in U.S. healthcare regulation could have a material adverse effect on the company’s business.
DGX Stock Estimate Trend
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ 2026 earnings per share (EPS) has increased 0.9% to $10.70 in the past 30 days.
The consensus estimate for the company’s 2026 revenues is pegged at $11.83 billion. This suggests 7.2% growth from the year-ago reported number.
Other Key Picks
Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Globus Medical GMED, Align Technology ALGN and Phibro Animal Health PAHC.
Globus Medical has an earnings yield of 6.1% compared to the industry’s negative 1.1% yield. Its earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 26.3%. GMED shares have rallied 28.1% against the industry’s 12.5% fall over the past year.
GMED sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Align Technology, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 10.3% for fiscal 2026 compared with the industry’s 9.5% growth. Shares of the company have dropped 13% compared to the industry’s 0.4% growth. ALGN’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed on one occasion, the average surprise being 7.8%.
Phibro Animal Health, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 21.5% compared with the industry’s 12.1%. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 16.3%. PAHC shares have rallied 41.8% against the industry’s 32.8% decline over the past year.
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Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).