# Guardant Health (GH.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/GH

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:28:45.313Z. Financial observations: FY2016–FY2026.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $165.88 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 0 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- more than 2 net loss years

- negative average operating margin

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 0

- Years with a net loss: 10

- Operating margin variation: 0.43×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: -1.54×

- FY2018: -1.03×

- FY2019: -0.38×

- FY2020: -0.89×

- FY2021: -1.10×

- FY2022: -1.21×

- FY2023: -1.00×

- FY2024: -0.60×

- FY2025: -0.45×

- LTM to Jun 2026: -0.40×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: -101.4%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -114.0%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 0.3 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 64.7%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 64.5%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 13.6%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: -97.8%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: -68.8%

- FY2018: -114.0%

- FY2019: -20.8%

- FY2020: -56.8%

- FY2021: -30.0%

- FY2022: -103.6%

- FY2023: -131.0%

- FY2024: -99.2%

- FY2025: -104.1%

- LTM to Jun 2026: -108.2%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: -$2.4B

- Net income, five-year total: -$2.4B

- Return on incremental invested capital: -106.4%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: -2.0 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: -13.4 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 16.6%

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2022: -$656M

- FY2023: -$457M

- FY2024: -$429M

- FY2025: -$416M

- LTM to Jun 2026: -$453M

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2018 to 2025 (7 years)

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: -68.8% vs -104.1%

- Per-share earnings: -1.01 to -3.56 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 5.2%

- Market cap gain: $10B

- Cumulative retained earnings: -$2.7B

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 5.2%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2018

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value change: -$2.54

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: -$1.01

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: -$3.56

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -0.60

- Average buyback yield: 0.3%

- Buyback history: 5 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- ROIC, first three-year median: -68.8%

- ROIC, last three-year median: -104.1%

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: -$2.9B

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -$3.53

- FY2017: -$1.18

- FY2018: -$1.01

- FY2019: -$0.84

- FY2020: -$2.60

- FY2021: -$4.00

- FY2022: -$6.41

- FY2023: -$4.28

- FY2024: -$3.56

- FY2025: -$3.32

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -11.5%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 0.94×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 0

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -8.1%

- FY2017: -3.2%

- FY2018: -2.2%

- FY2019: -3.0%

- FY2020: -6.6%

- FY2021: -8.9%

- FY2022: -21.4%

- FY2023: -8.6%

- FY2024: -13.2%

- FY2025: -11.5%

## Holders

- [Dan Davidowitz](https://gigainvestors.com/pcm): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Up 541% since Oct 2023 · "Guardant Health raises 2026 revenue outlook to $1.30B-$1.32B as Shield targets 230,000-245,000 tests" (seekingalpha.com, May 2026) · sales +20.5%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:58:48.896Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

- 2025-04-30: Guardant Health Reports First Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Increases 2025 Revenue Guidance ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/guardant-health-reports-first-quarter-200500328.html))

- 2025-10-29: Guardant Health Reports Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Increases 2025 Revenue Guidance ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/guardant-health-reports-third-quarter-200500592.html))

- 2026-01-12: Guardant Health guides Q4 and FY25 revenue above consensus ([seekingalpha.com](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4538256-guardant-health-guides-q4-and-fy25-revenue-above-consensus?utm_source=feed_news_all&utm_medium=referral&feed_item_type=news))

- 2026-05-07: Guardant Health Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Increases 2026 Revenue Guidance ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/healthcare/articles/guardant-health-reports-first-quarter-200500580.html))

- 2026-07-30: Guardant Health Reports Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Increases 2026 Revenue Guidance ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/healthcare/articles/guardant-health-reports-second-quarter-200500803.html))

- 2026-08-24: Guardant Health Dives After Losing A Patent Dispute; Judge Orders Royalties ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/m/a81e4d85-f75a-3f96-806c-88916fe7bc7d/guardant-health-dives-after.html))

### Sales · FY2025–2026

sales +20.5%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1576280/000157628026000013/gh-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-19.

- FY2017: $50M 

- FY2018: $91M 

- FY2019: $214M 

- FY2020: $287M 

- FY2021: $374M 

- FY2022: $450M 

- FY2023: $564M 

- FY2024: $739M 

- FY2025: $982M 

- FY2026: $1.2B 

### Gross margin · FY2026

gross margin 65%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1576280/000157628026000013/gh-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-19.

- FY2017: 36.6% 

- FY2018: 52.3% 

- FY2019: 67.0% 

- FY2020: 67.7% 

- FY2021: 67.1% 

- FY2022: 65.2% 

- FY2023: 59.7% 

- FY2024: 60.8% 

- FY2025: 64.5% 

- FY2026: 65.0% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in diagnostics & research; annual sales are USD 982 million.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1576280/000157628026000013/gh-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-19); FY2025: revenue 982021000; grossProfit 633014000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); GH.US: Guardant Health, Inc., a precision oncology company, provides blood and tissue tests, and data sets in the United States and internationally. The company offers Guardant360 CDx test, a liquid biopsy test for tumor mutation profiling; Guardant360 Liquid test, which measures 740+ genes and supports all guideline-recommended biomarkers; Guardant Reveal test, a blood test that utilizes circulating tumor DNA to detect cancer at the molecular level; and Guardant360 Tissue test, a molecular profiling test for tumor tissue that provides genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic insights. It also provides Shield blood test for colorectal cancer screening in adults. In addition, the company offers GuardantINFINITY test that provides insights into the complexities of tumor molecular profiles and immune response to advance cancer research and therapy development; GuardantOMNI test covers 500 genes, including genes associated with homologous recombination repair deficiency and biomarkers for immuno-oncology applications; GuardantINFORM, which provides longitudinal biological insight into tumor evolution alongside longitudinal clinical outcomes; and GuardantConnect, an integrated software-based solution designed for clinical and biopharmaceutical customers to connect patients tested with assays with actionable alterations with potentially relevant clinical studies. Further, it provides Smart Platform, which delivers multiomic insights leveraging genomic, epigenomic, and RNA-based data that are scalable from research to the clinic. Additionally, the company offers development services, including companion diagnostic development and regulatory approval, clinical study setup, monitoring and maintenance, testing development and support, technologies licensing, and kit fulfillment and delivery of Shield screening tests. It has a strategic collaboration with Nuvalent, Inc. for oncology drug development. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 59.7% to 64.5% during 2023–25.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 59.7%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 60.8%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1576280/000157628026000013/gh-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-19); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 64.5%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); 10-year return on capital observations [[2017,-0.688196941270112],[2018,-1.1400031052525346],[2019,-0.2081027000578835],[2020,-0.5676509382380628],[2021,-0.2998907265837072],[2022,-1.0364281841120346],[2023,-1.3101359962880736],[2024,-0.9923606419038503],[2025,-1.0405021989276462],[2026,-1.081786092830936]]; median -1.0143944130079425. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 3 of 9 years; bought back USD 45 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); Dividend observations: [[2017,0],[2018,3156000],[2019,0],[2020,7095000],[2021,17865000],[2022,0],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1576280/000157628026000013/gh-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-19); FY2025: cash repurchases 45010000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 4% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); GH.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 3.977 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price is 21.2 times annual sales; cash earnings are negative.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); Closing price 165.88 USD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 7.832732464466317; price multiple 21.1777946907449. FY2025 cash earnings/share -3.3202817171024295. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2018-10: $33.48 per share

- 2018-11: $35.73 per share

- 2018-12: $37.59 per share

- 2019-01: $40.34 per share

- 2019-02: $66.64 per share

- 2019-03: $76.70 per share

- 2019-04: $65.51 per share

- 2019-05: $76.88 per share

- 2019-06: $86.33 per share

- 2019-07: $93.99 per share

- 2019-08: $87.53 per share

- 2019-09: $63.83 per share

- 2019-10: $69.50 per share

- 2019-11: $77.67 per share

- 2019-12: $78.14 per share

- 2020-01: $76.04 per share

- 2020-02: $86.96 per share

- 2020-03: $69.60 per share

- 2020-04: $76.96 per share

- 2020-05: $90.39 per share

- 2020-06: $81.13 per share

- 2020-07: $85.18 per share

- 2020-08: $95.50 per share

- 2020-09: $111.78 per share

- 2020-10: $106.66 per share

- 2020-11: $121.12 per share

- 2020-12: $128.88 per share

- 2021-01: $155.50 per share

- 2021-02: $147.18 per share

- 2021-03: $152.65 per share

- 2021-04: $158.98 per share

- 2021-05: $124.12 per share

- 2021-06: $124.19 per share

- 2021-07: $109.80 per share

- 2021-08: $127.27 per share

- 2021-09: $125.01 per share

- 2021-10: $116.79 per share

- 2021-11: $105.12 per share

- 2021-12: $100.02 per share

- 2022-01: $69.55 per share

- 2022-02: $66.27 per share

- 2022-03: $66.24 per share

- 2022-04: $61.70 per share

- 2022-05: $40.98 per share

- 2022-06: $40.34 per share

- 2022-07: $50.17 per share

- 2022-08: $50.06 per share

- 2022-09: $53.83 per share

- 2022-10: $49.50 per share

- 2022-11: $52.34 per share

- 2022-12: $27.20 per share

- 2023-01: $31.43 per share

- 2023-02: $30.89 per share

- 2023-03: $23.44 per share

- 2023-04: $22.56 per share

- 2023-05: $29.32 per share

- 2023-06: $35.80 per share

- 2023-07: $39.02 per share

- 2023-08: $39.08 per share

- 2023-09: $29.64 per share

- 2023-10: $25.88 per share

- 2023-11: $25.17 per share

- 2023-12: $27.05 per share

- 2024-01: $21.93 per share

- 2024-02: $19.00 per share

- 2024-03: $20.63 per share

- 2024-04: $18.00 per share

- 2024-05: $27.10 per share

- 2024-06: $28.88 per share

- 2024-07: $35.13 per share

- 2024-08: $25.58 per share

- 2024-09: $22.94 per share

- 2024-10: $21.88 per share

- 2024-11: $35.61 per share

- 2024-12: $30.55 per share

- 2025-01: $46.98 per share

- 2025-02: $42.55 per share

- 2025-03: $42.60 per share

- 2025-04: $47.23 per share

- 2025-05: $40.62 per share

- 2025-06: $52.04 per share

- 2025-07: $40.98 per share

- 2025-08: $67.42 per share

- 2025-09: $62.48 per share

- 2025-10: $93.02 per share

- 2025-11: $108.42 per share

- 2025-12: $102.14 per share

- 2026-01: $114.04 per share

- 2026-02: $93.90 per share

- 2026-03: $92.37 per share

- 2026-04: $87.08 per share

- 2026-05: $129.69 per share

- 2026-06: $150.03 per share

- 2026-07: $161.99 per share

- 2026-08: $159.02 per share

- 2026-09: $178.36 per share

- 2026-10: $165.88 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

Prior published observations retained from 2026-10-15T06:34:27.498Z where newer inputs omit a numeric field or fiscal period.

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1576280/000157628026000013/gh-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-19.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.