DGX Posts Best Beat in Four Quarters; Insiders Pocket $8M
Quest Diagnostics has beaten Wall Street earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters, with the most recent quarter producing the widest beat in that stretch. In the weeks that followed that s
DGX Posts Best Beat in Four Quarters; Insiders Pocket $8M
NEW YORK, September 23 —
Seven weeks after Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) reported its widest earnings beat in four consecutive quarters, the CEO and General Counsel had sold a combined $7.93 million in shares at prices the stock no longer sustains. The stock trades at $234.76, below every insider transaction, with Q3 results due October 22.
- Q2 2026 EPS of $3.12 beat consensus by 10.6%, capping four straight quarters of escalating upside surprises.
- CEO Davis sold 10,000 shares at $242.72 on September 1; Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares at $242.88, $244.51 on August 28.
- Net insider sales total $8.32 million over the trailing 90 days against zero purchases.
Four Beats, Each Bigger Than the Last
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, operating under brands including AmeriPath, Dermpath Diagnostics, and Quanum, runs the country's largest independent laboratory testing network, processing cancer screenings, cardiometabolic panels, infectious disease tests, prenatal genetics, and workplace drug testing for physicians, hospitals, employers, and health plans. The company's Q2 2026 earnings release capped four consecutive EPS beats with a growing surprise margin: 4.0%, 2.5%, 5.5%, and 10.6%. Trailing twelve-month revenue reached $11.56 billion, up 10.2%, with $910 million in free cash flow. That acceleration raises the bar for Q3: a miss after four quarters of widening beats would break more than just the streak.
Not All $8 Million Is Equal
The General Counsel's August 28 transaction was an exercise-and-sell: Michael Prevoznik exercised options at a $112.17 strike and sold the resulting 22,677 shares the same day, a mechanical pairing that limits its directional signal. CEO J.E. Davis's September 1 open-market sale of 10,000 shares at $242.72 carries more weight, with no concurrent option exercise to explain it. The stock has since fallen below both sale prices. The analyst consensus target of $247.40 implies upside from current levels, but the CEO exited near that figure three weeks ago.
| Ticker | Mkt cap | Fwd P/E | 52-wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| DGX | $25.9B | 19.5x | +31.1% |
| LH | $25.3B | 15.7x | +14.7% |
| DVA | $11.7B | 10.7x | +37.3% |
| BDX | $49.8B | 13.8x | +23.2% |
| UHS | $10.6B | 7.5x | -12.5% |
| CAH | $51.4B | 15.8x | +46.0% |
October 22 Is the Arbiter
Quest reports Q3 2026 earnings before markets open on October 22, and the question is whether a fifth consecutive beat can extend the streak. The forward multiple of 19.5x is the number to watch: run it against any guidance revision with a P/E calculator, because a miss against $6.40 billion in total debt and only $0.63 billion in cash would pressure both the valuation and the case for systematic outperformance. Free cash flow of $910 million is what keeps the balance sheet viable through that scenario. Run the free Quest Diagnostics Incorporated deep-dive →
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Quest Diagnostics has beaten Wall Street earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters, with the most recent quarter producing the widest beat in that stretch. In the weeks that followed that strongest result, the CEO and top legal officer sold a combined $7.9 million in shares at prices the stock no longer trades at.