The new price target came less than a day after a major insurance decision<\/strong> boosted the outlook for Guardant’s blood-based colorectal cancer test.<\/p>\n UnitedHealth (UNH) Group, the nation’s largest health insurer<\/strong>, has agreed to cover Shield<\/strong> as a first-line screening option<\/strong> for millions of members aged 45 and older<\/strong>. Shield is Guardant’s leading cancer screening test.<\/p>\n That single decision from UNH unlocked a market that Wall Street wasn’t expecting for the next few years.<\/p>\n Guardant shares already jumped nearly 20%<\/strong> in the week following the news and now trade close to their 52-week high<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here’s what changed, and what investors watching the stock should know now.<\/p>\n According to Investing.com, Bernstein analyst Eve Burstein raised her price target on Guardant Health to $200 from $175 on July 2<\/strong>, maintaining an Outperform<\/strong> rating.<\/p>\n The upgrade followed UnitedHealth’s decision to cover Shield for members ages 45 to 75<\/strong>, matching Medicare’s existing coverage terms.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bernstein estimates the move gives Guardant access to 10 million newly reimbursed customers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n That single-payer decision carries enormous weight. Bernstein pointed to past coverage patterns for Guardant360<\/strong> and Exact Sciences’ Cologuard<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bernstein noted that once one major insurer commits, others tend to follow within a matter of quarters.<\/p>\n The math behind the new target is interesting. <\/p>\n Bernstein nearly doubled <\/strong>its 2030 revenue estimate for Shield from $770 million to about $1.5 billion<\/strong>. It also raised its 2040 estimate to approximately $4.1 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n skaman306 / Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Shield is a blood test that screens average-risk adults who are 45 and older for colorectal cancer. It is an alternative to colonoscopies<\/strong> and at-home stool kits<\/strong>. A single blood draw is all it takes.<\/p>\n UnitedHealth’s decision matters because commercial insurers<\/strong>, not just Medicare, now cover more patients<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n TD Cowen estimates the move could expand Shield’s reimbursable market by about 17%<\/strong>, based on 10.5 million UnitedHealth members ages 45 to 64<\/strong>.<\/p>\n More Healthcare Stocks:<\/strong><\/p>\n The UnitedHealth win wasn’t the only good news for GH.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a Guardant release, the FDA approved an expanded Guardant360 Liquid CDx panel in May<\/strong>, assessing a far wider range of genes than the prior version.\u00a0<\/p>\n Weeks later, the American Cancer Society noted the inclusion of Shield in its official screening guidelines<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Eli Lilly scores a first in major pharma milestone<\/strong><\/p>\n Guardant also graduated into the Russell 1000<\/strong> during June’s index reconstitution, LSEG reported.<\/p>\n According to Guardant, co-CEO AmirAli Talasaz said the American Cancer Society’s decision to add Shield to its guidelines marks “a momentous step forward in our collective work” to reach unscreened patients.<\/p>\n Even bulls see some risk in the stock. According to Investing.com, their fair-value model still considers Guardant Health overvalued<\/strong> relative to its underlying fundamentals.<\/p>\n The company’s trailing 12-month loss per share sits at $3.40<\/strong>, and its net margin remains deeply negative, according to Yahoo Finance data.<\/p>\n According to Simply Wall St, company insiders have also been net sellers of the stock over the past year, collectively offloading more than they bought<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Competition also remains real. Exact Sciences’ Cologuard still leads at-home stool-based screening.\u00a0<\/p>\n The American Cancer Society also notes that blood-based tests catch early-stage cancers less reliably<\/strong> than stool-based ones.<\/p>\n The bigger prize is still ahead. BTIG and TD Cowen both expect additional commercial insurers to follow UnitedHealth’s lead over the coming quarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n A formal recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force would open the door even wider, though Bernstein says that was already part of its long-term assumptions.<\/p>\n Guardant’s next earnings report is expected around July 29, 2026<\/strong>, according to Yahoo Finance.<\/p>\n For readers considering a position, the stock has already priced in a lot of good news after roughly quadrupling in value<\/strong> since its June drop.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Morgan Stanley sees writing on wall for key drug research stocks<\/strong><\/p>\n #Guardant #Health #stock #surges #colon #cancer #blood #test #news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Guardant Health (GH) investors have a new number to think about this week.\u00a0 Bernstein SocGen Group raised its price target on the cancer-screening company’s stock to $200 a share, up… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[246],"tags":[8421,1837,12431,12430,1071,1222,91,5025,3110],"class_list":["post-10691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-popular","tag-blood","tag-cancer","tag-colon","tag-guardant","tag-health","tag-news","tag-stock","tag-surges","tag-test"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Guardant Health stock rallies as Bernstein doubles down on Shield<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thestreet.com\/.image\/NDA6MDAwMDAwMDAzMTAyNDQ4\/foursurgeons_pl_040726.jpg?profile=rss\")
Why UnitedHealth’s coverage decision reshapes Guardant Health’s growth math<\/h2>\n
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What could derail Guardant Health’s rally from here<\/h2>\n
What Guardant Health investors should watch next<\/h2>\n
Catalysts that could move Guardant Health further<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n
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