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GRAIL Reports Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results

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GRAIL Reports Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results

Q3 U.S. Galleri Revenue Grew 28% Year-Over-Year to $32.6 Million

Q3 Galleri Tests Sold Grew 39% Year-Over-Year to More Than 45,000

Galleri PMA Submission to FDA Now Anticipated in Q126

Cash Position of More Than $850 Million Includes Recently Completed Private Placement

MENLO PARK, Calif., Nov. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — GRAIL, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRAL), a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early when it can be cured, today reported business and financial results for the third quarter of 2025.

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Total revenue in the third quarter grew 26% year-over-year to $36.2 million, and Galleri revenue grew 29% year-over-year to $32.8 million. U.S. Galleri revenue was $32.6 million, representing 28% growth year-over-year. Net loss for the quarter was $89.0 million. Gross loss was $13.7 million. Non-GAAP adjusted gross profit was $20.0 million, and non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA was $(71.7) million.1

“We remain very pleased by Galleri’s commercial uptake with 39% growth in Galleri test volume in the third quarter. Our teams continue to build awareness of Galleri among providers and patients, and recent data from our registrational PATHFINDER 2 study adds to the evidence base,” said Bob Ragusa, Chief Executive Officer at GRAIL. “We have also made key recent strides in opportunities beyond the U.S., led by our strategic collaboration with Samsung to bring Galleri to key Asian markets, as well as Galleri’s commercial introduction in Canada. Looking ahead, we anticipate completing our PMA submission for Galleri to the FDA in the first quarter of 2026.”

For the three months ended September 30, 2025, as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2024, GRAIL reported:

  • Revenue: Total revenue, comprised of screening and development services revenue, was $36.2 million, an increase of $7.5 million or 26%.
  • Net loss: Net loss was $89.0 million, an improvement of $36.7 million or 29%.
  • Gross loss: Gross loss was $13.7 million, an improvement of $8.5 million or 38%.
  • Adjusted gross profit1: Adjusted gross profit was $20.0 million, an increase of $8.2 million or 69%.
  • Adjusted EBITDA1: Adjusted EBITDA was $(71.7) million, an improvement of $36.5 million or 34%.
  • Cash position: Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term marketable securities totaled $547.1 million as of September 30, 2025.

Recent business highlights include:

  • Positive results from PATHFINDER 2 and SYMPLIFY studies add to the evidence base for the effectiveness of multi-cancer early detection.
  • Positive detailed performance and safety results from the pre-specified analysis of the first approximately 25,000 participants in the registrational PATHFINDER 2 study were presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology (“ESMO”) Congress 2025 in October:
    • Adding Galleri to recommended screenings for breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancers (USPSTF A and B recommendations) led to a more than seven-fold increase in the number of cancers found within a year
    • Galleri detected approximately three times as many cancers when added to standard-of-care screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers (USPSTF A, B, and C recommendations)
    • Approximately three-quarters of the cancers detected by Galleri do not have standard of care screening options
    • More than half of the new cancers detected by Galleri were stage 1 or 2 and more than two-thirds were detected at stages 1-3
    • Galleri positive predictive value (“PPV”), or the likelihood of receiving a cancer diagnosis following a positive test result, was 61.6%
    • Specificity was 99.6%, translating to a false positive rate of 0.4%
    • Cancer signal of origin accuracy was 92%, leading to efficient diagnostic workups
    • Diagnostic resolution took a median of 46 days, and only 0.6% of all participants had an invasive procedure and invasive procedures were two times more common in participants with cancer than in those without
    • No serious, study-related adverse events were reported
  • Positive long-term results from an extended registry follow-up of the SYMPLIFY study with the University of Oxford were presented at the Early Detection of Cancer Conference (“EDCC”) in October. A previous primary analysis, published in The Lancet Oncology, followed participants until diagnostic resolution or up to nine months and demonstrated Galleri’s PPV was 75.5%. Patients reported to have a false positive Galleri result were followed for 24 months in national cancer registries for England and Wales.
    • The updated analysis presented at EDCC showed that approximately one-third of participants initially believed to have a false positive result were later diagnosed with cancer during the subsequent follow up period
    • This reduction in false positives resulted in an increase of Galleri’s PPV in this symptomatic population to 84.2%
  • Announced a collaboration with Medcan, a global leader in proactive health and wellness services, to provide access to the Galleri test at Medcan’s clinics. Additionally, Manulife Canada announced it now offers access to Galleri, in partnership with Medcan, to eligible life insurance customers through its innovative Manulife Vitality program.
  • Announced a strategic collaboration with Samsung in October to bring the Galleri test to key Asian markets. Subject to execution of definitive agreements, the parties will work as exclusive partners to commercialize Galleri in Korea, and possibly other key Asian markets, including Japan and Singapore. In addition, the parties intend to explore potential additional strategic and operational collaborations. Samsung has also agreed to make an equity investment of $110 million in GRAIL, subject to closing conditions.
  • Completed a private placement of equity in October resulting in gross proceeds of approximately $325 million, before deducting placement agents’ fees and other expenses. Including proceeds from this transaction, GRAIL’s cash position of more than $850 million provides runway into 2030.




1 See “Non-GAAP Disclosure” and the associated reconciliations for important information about our use of non-GAAP measures.

Conference Call and Webcast
A webcast and conference call will be held today, Nov. 12, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. ET. Individuals interested in listening to the conference call may access it on the investor relations section of GRAIL’s website at investors.grail.com.

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A replay of the webcast will be available on GRAIL’s website for 30 days.

GRAIL Analyst Day 2025 Tomorrow
GRAIL will host its Analyst Day 2025 tomorrow, Nov. 13, 2025, at the Company’s central laboratories in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina beginning at 8:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. ET.

The live webcast and recorded replay will be available at the investor relations section of GRAIL’s website at investors.grail.com and at https://grail-analyst-day-2025.open-exchange.net/registration.

About GRAIL
GRAIL, Inc. is a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. GRAIL is focused on alleviating the global burden of cancer by using the power of next-generation sequencing, population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art machine learning, software, and automation to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types in earlier stages. GRAIL’s targeted methylation-based platform can support the continuum of care for screening and precision oncology, including multi-cancer early detection in symptomatic patients, risk stratification, minimal residual disease detection, biomarker subtyping, treatment and recurrence monitoring. GRAIL is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA with locations in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom. GRAIL’s common stock is listed under the ticker symbol “GRAL” on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange.

For more information, visit grail.com.

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About Galleri®
The Galleri multi-cancer early detection test is a proactive tool to screen for cancer. With a simple blood draw, the Galleri test can identify DNA shed by cancer cells, which can act as a unique “fingerprint” of cancer, to help screen for some of the deadliest cancers that don’t have recommended screening today, such as pancreatic, esophageal, ovarian, liver, and others. The Galleri test can be used to screen for cancer before a person becomes symptomatic, when cancer may be more easily treated and potentially curable. The Galleri test can indicate the origin of the cancer, giving healthcare providers a roadmap of where to explore further. The Galleri test requires a prescription from a licensed healthcare provider and should be used in addition to recommended cancer screenings such as mammography, colonoscopy, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, or cervical cancer screening. The Galleri test is recommended for adults with an elevated risk for cancer, such as those aged 50 or older.

For more information, visit galleri.com.

Laboratory/Test Information
GRAIL’s clinical laboratory is certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) and accredited by the College of American Pathologists. The Galleri test was developed, and its performance characteristics were determined by GRAIL. The Galleri test has not been cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. GRAIL’s clinical laboratory is regulated under CLIA to perform high-complexity testing. The Galleri test is intended for clinical purposes.

Non-GAAP Disclosure
In addition to our financial results provided throughout this press release that are determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), this press release also includes financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with GAAP. Our non-GAAP financial disclosure includes Adjusted Gross Profit (Loss) and Adjusted EBITDA. We encourage investors to carefully consider our results under GAAP in conjunction with our supplemental non-GAAP information and the reconciliation between these presentations.

  • Adjusted Gross Profit (Loss) is a key performance measure that our management uses to assess our operational performance, as it represents the results of revenues and direct costs, which are key components of our operations. We believe that this non-GAAP financial measure is useful to investors and other interested parties in analyzing our financial performance because it reflects the gross profitability of our operations, and excludes the costs associated with our sales and marketing, product development, general and administrative activities, and depreciation and amortization, and the impact of our financing methods and income taxes.

    We calculate Adjusted Gross Profit (Loss) as gross profit (loss) (as defined below) adjusted to exclude amortization of intangible assets and stock-based compensation allocated to cost of revenue. Adjusted Gross Profit (Loss) should be viewed as a measure of operating performance that is a supplement to, and not a substitute for, operating income or loss from operations, net earnings or loss and other GAAP measures of income (loss) or profitability. The following table presents a reconciliation of gross loss, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, to Adjusted Gross Profit.

  • Adjusted EBITDA is a key performance measure that our management uses to assess our financial performance and is also used for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe that this non-GAAP financial measure is useful to investors and other interested parties in analyzing our financial performance because it provides a comparable overview of our operations across historical periods. In addition, we believe that providing Adjusted EBITDA, together with a reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA, helps investors make comparisons between our company and other companies that may have different capital structures, different tax rates, different operational and ownership histories, and/or different forms of employee compensation.

    Adjusted EBITDA is used by our management team as an additional measure of our performance for purposes of business decision-making, including managing expenditures. Period-to-period comparisons of Adjusted EBITDA help our management identify additional trends in our financial results that may not be shown solely by period-to-period comparisons of net income (loss) or income (loss) from operations. Our management recognizes that Adjusted EBITDA has inherent limitations because of the excluded items, and may not be directly comparable to similarly titled metrics used by other companies.

    We calculate Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) adjusted to exclude interest (income) expense, income tax expense (benefit), depreciation, impairment of goodwill and intangible assets, and amortization of intangible assets, which represent intangible assets resulting from pushdown accounting, legal and professional services fees related to Illumina’s acquisition of the Company in August 2021 (“the Acquisition”) and corresponding antitrust litigation, including compliance with the hold separate arrangements imposed by the European Commission, and our divestment from Illumina, restructuring charges, and stock-based compensation. We believe that the items subject to these further adjustments are not indicative of our ongoing operations due to their nature, especially considering the impact of certain items as a result of the Acquisition.

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    Adjusted EBITDA should be viewed as a measure of operating performance that is a supplement to, and not a substitute for, operating income or loss from operations, net earnings or loss and other U.S. GAAP measures of income (loss). Additionally, it is not intended to be a measure of free cash flow for management’s discretionary use, as it does not consider certain cash requirements such as interest and tax payments. Further, our definition of Adjusted EBITDA may differ from similarly titled measures used by other companies and therefore may not be comparable among companies. The following table presents a reconciliation of net loss, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, to Adjusted EBITDA on a consolidated basis.

Full reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures is set forth in tabular form below.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “should,” “would,” or “will,” the negative of these terms, and other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions about us, may include expectations and projections of our future financial performance, future tests or products, patient awareness of our products, technology, clinical studies, safety results, regulatory compliance, potential market opportunity, anticipated growth strategies, restructuring costs, sufficiency of cash on hand to finance our business, cost savings, budgets and strategies, satisfaction of closing conditions and negotiation of definitive agreements in the Samsung collaboration, and growth and anticipated trends in our business.

These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements to differ materially and adversely from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those factors and numerous associated risks discussed under the sections entitled “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2024 and in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, 2025, June 30, 2025 and September 30, 2025. Moreover, we operate in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements to differ materially and adversely from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make.

Forward-looking statements relate to the future and, accordingly, are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Although we believe the expectations and projections expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Except to the extent required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform our prior statements to actual results or revised expectations or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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GRAIL, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(unaudited)

(amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)



September 30,
2025

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December 31,
2024

Assets




Current assets:




Cash and cash equivalents

$                  126,892

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$                  214,234

Short-term marketable securities

413,238


549,236

Accounts receivable, net

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16,282


20,312

Supplies

18,390


18,632

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Prepaid expenses and other current assets

14,579


17,447

Total current assets

589,381

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819,861

Property and equipment, net

56,180


69,061

Operating lease right-of-use assets

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56,061


66,373

Restricted cash

6,974


3,349

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Intangible assets, net

1,885,140


2,016,890

Other non-current assets

7,295

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7,773

Total assets

$               2,601,031


$               2,983,307

Liabilities and stockholders’ equity

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Current liabilities:




Accounts payable

$                      3,407


$                      4,844

Accrued liabilities

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58,076


57,241

Operating lease liabilities, current portion

14,022


13,260

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Other current liabilities

1,928


1,580

Total current liabilities

77,433

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76,925

Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion

44,568


54,881

Deferred tax liability, net

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236,265


345,860

Other non-current liabilities

2,802


2,236

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Total liabilities

361,068


479,902

Preferred stock, par value of $0.001 per share; 50,000,000 shares
authorized, no shares issued and outstanding as of September 30,
2025 and December 31, 2024

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Common stock $0.001 par value per share, 1,500,000,000 shares
authorized, 36,160,998 shares issued and outstanding as of
September 30, 2025, 33,893,409 shares issued and outstanding as of
December 31, 2024

36


34

Additional paid-in capital

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12,349,976


12,305,250

Accumulated other comprehensive income

2,456


1,451

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Accumulated deficit

(10,112,505)


(9,803,330)

Total stockholders’ equity

2,239,963

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2,503,405

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

$               2,601,031


$               2,983,307

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GRAIL, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(unaudited)

(amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)



Three Months Ended

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Nine Months Ended


September 30,
2025


September 30,
2024


September 30,
2025


September 30,
2024

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Revenue:








Screening revenue

$            32,807


$            25,374


$            96,319

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$            77,076

Development services revenue

3,387


3,278


7,256

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10,267

Total revenue

36,194


28,652


103,575

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87,343

Costs and operating expenses:








Cost of screening revenue (exclusive of
     amortization of intangible assets)

15,910


15,970

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52,379


45,481

Cost of development services revenue

544


1,442

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2,216


3,499

Cost of revenue — amortization of intangible
     assets

33,473


33,473

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100,417


100,417

Research and development

48,647


78,231

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148,898


274,052

Sales and marketing

25,503


35,625

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89,021


123,433

General and administrative

37,408


47,418

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120,396


171,745

Goodwill and intangible assets impairment


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28,000


1,420,936

Total costs and operating expenses

161,485


212,159

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541,327


2,139,563

Loss from operations

(125,291)


(183,507)

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(437,752)


(2,052,220)

Other income:








Interest income

6,107

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11,661


20,695


17,367

Other income (expense), net

466

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(561)


(929)


(514)

Total other income, net

6,573

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11,100


19,766


16,853

Loss before income taxes

(118,718)

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(172,407)


(417,986)


(2,035,367)

Benefit from income taxes

29,741

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46,719


108,811


105,428

Net loss

$          (88,977)

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$        (125,688)


$        (309,175)


$     (1,929,939)

Net loss per share — Basic and Diluted

$              (2.46)

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$              (3.94)


$              (8.73)


$            (61.61)

Weighted-average shares of common stock
     used in computing net loss per share:

36,124,256

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31,880,054


35,415,266


31,326,117

 

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GRAIL, Inc.

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures

(unaudited)

(amounts in thousands)



Three Months Ended

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Nine Months Ended


September 30,
2025


September 30,
2024


September 30,
2025


September 30,
2024

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Gross loss (1)

$          (13,733)


$          (22,233)


$      (51,437)


$      (62,054)

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Amortization of intangible assets

33,473


33,473


100,417


100,417

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Stock-based compensation

271


578


1,450


1,522

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Adjusted Gross Profit

$            20,011


$            11,818


$        50,430


$        39,885

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(1)

Gross loss is calculated as total revenue less cost of screening revenue (exclusive of amortization of intangible assets), cost of development services revenue and cost of revenue—amortization of intangible assets.

 

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GRAIL, Inc.

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures

(unaudited)

(amounts in thousands)



Three Months Ended

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Nine Months Ended


September 30,
2025


September 30,
2024


September 30,
2025


September 30,
2024

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Net loss

$          (88,977)


$        (125,688)


$        (309,175)


$     (1,929,939)

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Adjusted to exclude the following:








Interest income

(6,107)


(11,661)


(20,695)

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(17,367)

Benefit from income tax expense

(29,741)


(46,719)


(108,811)

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(105,428)

Amortization of intangible assets (1)

34,583


34,583


103,750

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103,750

Depreciation

4,399


4,647


13,686

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14,865

Goodwill and intangible impairment (2)



28,000

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1,420,936

Illumina/GRAIL merger & divestiture
     legal and professional services costs(3)


226


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22,158

Stock-based compensation(4)

14,139


17,449


44,518

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72,502

Restructuring(5)


19,007


(34)

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19,007

Adjusted EBITDA

$          (71,704)


$        (108,156)


$        (248,761)

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$        (399,516)







(1)

Represents amortization of intangible assets, including developed technology and trade names.

(2)

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Reflects impairment of goodwill and intangible assets recognized as a result of the Acquisition.

(3)

Represents legal and professional services costs associated with the Acquisition and corresponding antitrust litigation, including compliance with the hold separate arrangements imposed by the European Commission, and legal and professional services costs associated with the divestiture.

(4)

Represents all stock-based compensation recognized on our standalone financial statements for the periods presented.

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(5)

Represents employee severance, benefits, payroll taxes, and other costs associated with the Restructuring Plan.

SOURCE GRAIL, Inc.

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Finance

Morgan Stanley sees writing on wall for Citi before major change

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Morgan Stanley sees writing on wall for Citi before major change

Banks have had a stellar first quarter. The major U.S. banks raked in nearly $50 billion in profits in the first three months of the year, The Guardian reported.

That was largely due to Wall Street bank traders, who profited from a volatile stock exchange, Reuters showed.

But even without the extra bump from stock trading, banks are doing well when it comes to interest, the same Reuters article found. And some banks could stand to benefit even more from this one potential rule change.

Morgan Stanley thinks it could have a major impact on Citi in particular.

Upcoming changes for banks

To understand why Morgan Stanley thinks things are going to change at Citi, you need to understand some recent bank rule changes.

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Banks make money by lending out money, which usually comes from depositors. But people need access to their money and the right to withdraw whenever they want.

So, banks keep a percentage of all money deposited to make sure they can cover what the average person needs.

But what happens if there is a major demand for withdrawals, as we saw during the financial crisis of 2008?

That’s where capital requirements come in. After the financial crisis, major banks like Citi were required by law to hold a higher percentage of money in order to avoid major bank failures.

For years, banks had to put aside billions of dollars. Money that couldn’t be lent out or even returned to shareholders.

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Now, that’s all about to change.

Morgan Stanley thinks Citigroup could see an uptick in profit. Getty Images

Capital change requirements for major banks

Banks that are considered globally systemically important banking organizations (G-SIBs) have a higher capital buffer than community banks as they usually engage in banking activity that is far more complicated than your average market loan.

The list depends on the size of the bank and its underlying activity, according to the Federal Reserve.

Current global systemically important banks

A proposal from U.S. federal banking regulators could drastically reduce the amount that these large banks have to hold in reserve.

Changes would result in the largest U.S. banks holding an average 4.8% less. While that might seem like a small percentage number, for banks of this size, it equates to billions of dollars, according to a Federal Reserve memo.

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The proposed changes were a long time coming, Robert Sarama, a financial services leader at PwC, told TheStreet.

“It’s a bit of a recognition that perhaps the pendulum swung a little too far in the higher capital requirement following the financial crisis, making it harder for banks to participate in some markets,” he said.

Citi’s upcoming relief  

Citi is a G-SIB and as such, is subject to the capital requirement rules. And the fact that it could get 4.8% of its money back to spend elsewhere is why Morgan Stanley is so optimistic about the bank.

In a research note, Morgan Stanley analysts said they expect Citi’s annualized net income to be better than expected due to the upcoming capital relief.

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While Citi stated its return on average tangible common equity (ROTCE), a type of financial measure, to be close to 13% by 2028, “the fact that Citi’s near-term and medium-term targets excluding capital relief were only marginally below our expectations including capital relief actually suggest upside to our numbers if Citi can deliver,” the note said.

More bank news

In fact, Citigroup’s own projections are likely conservative and it’s likely to show improvement each year, the analysts expanded.

“We have high conviction that the proposed capital rules will be finalized later this year and expect Citi can eventually revise the medium-term targets higher, suggesting further upside to consensus,” the Morgan Stanley analysts wrote.

Related: Citi just added an AI agent to your wealth management team

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This story was originally published by TheStreet on May 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the Investing section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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Finance

Couple forced to live in caravan buy first home as ‘stars align’ in off-market sale

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Couple forced to live in caravan buy first home as ‘stars align’ in off-market sale
Natasha, 34, and Luke, 45, settled on their new home last month. (Source: Supplied)

Natasha Luscri and Luke Miller consider themselves among the lucky ones. The couple recently bought their first home in the northwest suburbs of Melbourne.

It wasn’t something they necessarily expected to be able to do, but some good fortune with an investment in silver bullion and making use of government schemes meant “the stars aligned” to get into the market. Luke used the federal government’s super saver scheme to help build a deposit, and the couple then jumped on the 5 per cent deposit scheme, which they say made all the difference.

“We only started looking because of the government deposit scheme. Basically, we didn’t really think it was possible that we could buy something,” Natasha told Yahoo Finance.

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Last month they settled on their two bedroom unit, which the pair were able to purchase in an off-market sale – something that is becoming increasingly common in the market at the moment.

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Rather perfectly, they got it for about $20-30,000 below market rate, Natasha estimated, which meant they were under the $600,000 limit to avoid paying stamp duty under Victoria’s suite of support measures for first home buyers.

“They wanted to sell it quickly. They had no other offers. So we got it for less than what it would have gone for if it had been on market,” Natasha said.

“We didn’t have a lot of cash sitting in an account … I think we just got lucky and made some smart investment decisions which helped.”

It’s a far cry from when the couple couldn’t find a home due to the rental crisis when they were previously living in Adelaide and had to turn to sub-standard options.

“We’ve managed to go from living in a caravan because we were living in Adelaide and we couldn’t find a rental with our dogs … So we’ve gone from living in a caravan, being kind of tertiary homeless essentially because we couldn’t get a rental, to now having been able to purchase our first home,” Natasha explained.

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Rate rises beginning to bite for new homeowners

Natasha, 34, and Luke, 45, are among more than 300,000 Australians who have used the 5 per cent deposit scheme to get into the housing market with a much smaller than usual deposit, according to data from Housing Australia at the end of March. However that’s dating back to 2020 when the program first launched, before it was rebranded and significantly expanded in October last year to scrap income or placement caps, along with allowing for higher property price caps.

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Finance

WHO says its finances are stable, but uncertainties loom – Geneva Solutions

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WHO says its finances are stable, but uncertainties loom – Geneva Solutions

A year after the US exit from the global health body, WHO officials say finances are secure, for now. But amid donor cuts, rising inflation, and future economic uncertainties, will funding be sufficient to meet its needs?

Earlier this month, senior officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) told journalists in a newly refurbished pressroom at the agency’s headquarters that its finances were “stable”. Following a year that saw its biggest donor withdraw as a member, forcing it to cut 25 per cent of its staff, its financial chief said that 85 per cent of its 2026 and 2027 budget had been financed.

“While we are looking at resource mobilisation, we’re also looking at tightening our belts,” Raul Thomas, assistant director general for business operations and compliance, explained, admitting that the WHO “will have great difficulty mobilising the last 15 per cent”.

Sitting at the centre of the press podium, surrounded by his deputies, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general, backed up Thomas’s outlook. “We are stable now and moving forward”, since the retreat of the United States from the health body, he said. The Ethiopian noted that the WHO’s financial reform, allowing for incremental increases in state member fees, has been a big plus.

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Mandatory contributions have historically accounted for only a quarter of the organisation’s total funding. States have agreed to raise their contributions by 20 per cent twice, in 2023 and in 2025. Further increments are scheduled to be negotiated in 2027, 2029 and 2031 to bring mandatory funding up to par with voluntary donations that the agency relies on. The WHO also reduced its biennial budget for 2026 and 2027 from $5.3 billion to $4.2bn.

“Our financing actually is better,” Tedros emphasised. “Without the reform, it would have been a problem.”

Read more: Nations agree to raise their WHO fees in wake of US retreat

Nonetheless, the director general, now in his final year at the UN agency, warned that member states should not assume that the financial road ahead will be clear. “The future of WHO will also be defined by how successful we are in terms of the assessed contribution increases or the financial reform in general.”

As west retreats, others step in

Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, explains that every year at the WHO, there’s “a non-stop effort” to ensure funding. She says a continued reliance on non-flexible, voluntary funding earmarked for specific projects, as well as donors withholding contributions – sometimes for political leverage – complicates the organisation’s financial plans. Meanwhile, ongoing cuts and predictions of a global economic downturn stemming from the war in the Middle East may further aggravate the situation, as costs rise and member states focus on national spending needs.

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Soaring prices driven by the conflict and supply chain disruptions have already affected the WHO’s procurement of emergency health kits for crises, officials at the global health body said. “We are continuing to negotiate at least from a procurement standpoint on how we can bring down a little bit the prices or reduce the increases, but we are seeing it across the board,” said Thomas.

Altaf Musani, WHO director of health emergencies, meanwhile, said aid cuts have already deprived roughly 53 million people in crisis situations of access to healthcare.

Last month, Thomas told the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the UN at the end of April that the agency is looking at non-traditional, or non-western, donors for funding to close the biennial 15 per cent funding gap. “It’s not that we won’t go to the traditional donors, but we’re expanding that donor base.”

Since the dramatic drop in funding from the US, formerly the WHO’s biggest contributor, Moon highlights that there hadn’t been a “sudden jump by non-traditional states to compensate for the US”. Last May, at the World Health Assembly, China pledged $500 million in voluntary funding until 2030, a sharp rise from the $2.5m it contributed over 2024 and 2025.

The WHO did not respond to questions from Geneva Solutions about how much of the pledged amount had been disbursed. China’s mission in Geneva did not respond to questions raised about the funding.

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Other countries, particularly Gulf states, have meanwhile been increasing their voluntary contributions to the organisation in recent years. Similarly to “western liberal democracies have in the past”, Moon explains that they may be seeking “to raise their profile and prioritise health as one of the issues that they would like to be known for”. She noted that the shift in the UN agency’s list of top donors may affect how it manages the money.

‘Sustainable’ spending

Amid these financial uncertainties, WHO executives say the organisation is also reviewing its expenditure through “sustainability plans”. This includes working more closely with collaborating centres, including universities and research institutes that support WHO programmes and are independently funded. On influenza, for example, the WHO works with dozens of national centres around the world, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US,

When asked about any plans for further job cuts, Thomas denied that these were part of the WHO’s current strategies, but could not rule them out entirely as a future possibility. Instead, he said, the organisation was “looking at ways to use funding that may have been for activities to cover salaries in the most important areas”.

Meanwhile, WHO data shows that the number of consultants employed by the agency by the end of 2025 decreased by 23 per cent, slightly less than the staff reductions. Global heath reporter Elaine Fletcher explained to Geneva Solutions that consultants continue to represent a significant proportion of the agency’s workforce, at 5,844 – including an overwhelming number hired in Africa and Southeast Asia – compared with regular staff numbering 8,569 in December.

Upcoming donor politics

The upcoming change in leadership will also be a strategic moment for the organisation to boost its coffers.  Moon says the race for the top job at the organisation may attract funding from candidates’ home countries, which could be seen as a strategic opportunity. 

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Given the relatively small size of the WHO budget, compared to some government or agency accounts, “you don’t have to be the richest country in the world to dangle a few 100 million dollars, which could go a long way in their budget,” the expert notes.

The biggest ongoing challenge, however, will be whether major donors will announce further aid cuts. In the medium and longer term, “countries will have to  agree on the step up every two years, and there’s always drama around that.”

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