QuidelOrtho (QDEL): Buy, Sell, or Hold Post Q2 Earnings? Jabin Bastian Mon, October 12, 2026 at 3:19 PM EDT 3 min read QDEL -0.93% ^GSPC -0.08% Trade QDEL on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Over the past six months, QuidelOrtho's shares (currently trading at $13.31) have posted a disappointing 17.3% loss, well below the S&P 500's 12.8% gain. This was partly due to its softer quarterly results and may have investors wondering how to approach the situation.
Is there a buying opportunity in QuidelOrtho, or does it present a risk to your portfolio? See what our analysts have to say in our full research report, it's free.
Despite the more favorable entry price, we're sitting this one out for now. Here are three reasons you should be careful with QDEL, plus one stock we'd rather own.
In addition to reported revenue, constant currency revenue is a useful data point for analyzing Medical Devices & Supplies - Imaging, Diagnostics companies. This metric excludes currency movements, which are outside of QuidelOrtho's control and are not indicative of underlying demand.
Over the last two years, QuidelOrtho's constant currency revenue averaged 2.8% year-on-year declines. This performance was underwhelming and implies there may be increasing competition or market saturation. It also suggests QuidelOrtho might have to lower prices or invest in product improvements to accelerate growth, factors that can hinder near-term profitability.
A company's ROIC, or return on invested capital, shows how much operating profit it makes compared to the money it has raised (debt and equity).
Unfortunately, QuidelOrtho's ROIC has decreased significantly over the last few years. Paired with its already low returns, these declines suggest its profitable growth opportunities are few and far between.
As long-term investors, the risk we care about most is the permanent loss of capital, which can happen when a company goes bankrupt or raises money from a disadvantaged position. This is separate from short-term stock price volatility, something we are much less bothered by.
QuidelOrtho burned through $211.2 million of cash over the last year, and its $3.04 billion of debt exceeds the $123.4 million of cash on its balance sheet. This is a deal breaker for us because indebted loss-making companies spell trouble.
Unless the QuidelOrtho's fundamentals change quickly, it might find itself in a position where it must raise capital from investors to continue operating. Whether that would be favorable is unclear because dilution is a headwind for shareholder returns.
We remain cautious of QuidelOrtho until it generates consistent free cash flow or any of its announced financing plans materialize on its balance sheet.
We see the value of companies making people healthier, but in the case of QuidelOrtho, we're out. After the recent drawdown, the stock trades at 15.9× forward P/E (or $13.31 per share). This valuation tells us it's a bit of a market darling with a lot of good news priced in - you can find more timely opportunities elsewhere. We'd suggest looking at a top digital advertising platform riding the creator economy.
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