QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $28.80, but opened at $26.68. QuidelOrtho shares last traded at $25.84, with a volume of 798,588 shares traded.

QuidelOrtho News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting QuidelOrtho this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results: revenue of $723.6M and EPS roughly in line/just above consensus, driven by Labs and TRIAGE growth — a sign that core diagnostic demand is holding. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted FY25 adjusted EBITDA margin expansion and expects >$200M improvement in free cash flow in FY26, and said it will continue R&D and pipeline investments — a structural positive if margins and cash flow materialize. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Company set a FY2026 revenue target of $2.7B–$2.9B and emphasized R&D progress — revenue range overlaps Street estimates but leaves execution risk on hitting the high end. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings package is available (press release, slides, and call transcript) — useful for investors who want detail on product-level trends, cost drivers and cadence for FY26. Read More. / Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: FY2026 EPS guidance of $2.00–$2.42 came in below the consensus (~$2.49), which is the main near-term negative catalyst prompting the sell-off — markets typically punish guidance misses even when revenue targets are in-range. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Margins and some respiratory product weakness were called out by management and analysts; GAAP profitability metrics showed pressure (reports of net margin compression and operating loss in supplemental coverage), increasing uncertainty on near-term earnings power. Read More. / Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $30.00 target price on QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.40.

QuidelOrtho Trading Down 19.3%

The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.35 and a beta of 0.68.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 5.75% and a negative net margin of 42.53%.The company had revenue of $723.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. QuidelOrtho’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 23,500 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $21.34 per share, for a total transaction of $501,490.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 29,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $630,234.22. The trade was a 389.52% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph M. Busky bought 4,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.06 per share, with a total value of $124,306.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,335.20. The trade was a 221.86% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired a total of 29,390 shares of company stock worth $657,340 over the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QDEL. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 87.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,906,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,604,000 after buying an additional 1,352,503 shares during the last quarter. Newtyn Management LLC raised its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter. Newtyn Management LLC now owns 2,700,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,515,000 after acquiring an additional 994,332 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 101.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,755,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,134,000 after purchasing an additional 883,077 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 46.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,385,000 after purchasing an additional 529,770 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 23.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,700,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,841,000 after purchasing an additional 510,291 shares during the period. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About QuidelOrtho

QuidelOrtho is a global diagnostics company formed through the merger of Quidel Corporation and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. The combined entity develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of rapid and high-throughput diagnostic solutions across immunoassay, molecular diagnostics and transfusion medicine. Its offerings span point-of-care platforms for acute care testing as well as large-scale automated systems designed for clinical laboratories and blood banks.

The company’s product range includes rapid antigen and antibody tests for infectious diseases, molecular assays utilizing nucleic acid amplification technology, and integrated immunodiagnostic analyzers.