Last Update 06 Nov 25
Fair value Decreased 21%OSUR: Activist Pressure Will Drive Shareholder Value Amid Board Challenge
Analysts have revised their price target for OraSure Technologies from $6.00 to $4.75, citing updated projections for revenue growth and broader shifts in valuation estimates.
What's in the News
- Healthcare entrepreneur Ron Zwanziger warned OraSure that he may pursue an adversarial strategy if the company continues to resist his acquisition bid, following OraSure's rejection of his all-cash offer earlier this summer (Reuters).
- Altai Capital Management announced plans to target board seats with two directors up for re-election next year and indicated Altai founder Rishi Bajaj may be a proposed candidate.
- Some OraSure investors have reportedly reached out to Zwanziger, expressing concern about the company's current direction (Reuters).
Valuation Changes
- Fair Value Estimate: Lowered from $6.00 to $4.75 per share, reflecting a downward revision.
- Discount Rate: Increased slightly from 7.52% to 7.68%, indicating a higher required rate of return.
- Revenue Growth: Changed from a projected 1.83% increase to a 1.70% decline, marking a significant reduction in expectations.
- Net Profit Margin: Improved from 12.32% to 13.54%, suggesting a modest gain in profitability despite other setbacks.
- Future Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio: Decreased from 28.13x to 22.64x, implying a lower valuation multiple assigned to future earnings.
Key Takeaways
- Launch of innovative at-home diagnostic products and clinical partnerships expands market reach and drives revenue diversification.
- Focus on operational efficiencies, international growth, and favorable healthcare trends supports sustained margin improvement and long-term earnings growth.
- Heavy dependence on large customers, uncertain public funding, and intense competition threaten revenue stability and margin growth as new product adoption faces hurdles.
Catalysts
About OraSure Technologies- Develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and distributes diagnostic products, specimen collection devices, and other diagnostic products in the United States, Europe, Africa, and internationally.
- Continued investment and progress in launching next-generation, non-invasive diagnostic products-such as HEMAcollect PROTEIN for proteomics, Colli-Pee urine collection, and the Sherlock molecular self-test for STIs-position the company to capitalize on growing demand for early, convenient, and at-home disease detection, providing a potential for a meaningful uplift in revenue starting in 2026.
- Strategic expansion into new clinical indications (oncology, neurology, cardiology, metabolic disorders) and broader adoption of innovative collection kits (such as ORAcollect and GlutenID partnerships) increases addressable market size, supporting both top-line growth and diversification of revenue streams.
- Internalizing manufacturing operations for Sample Management Solutions is expected to drive long-term cost efficiencies, with benefits ramping in 2025 and 2026, thus supporting gross margin improvement and, eventually, higher net margins as volumes increase.
- Demographic tailwinds such as aging populations and the global shift toward preventive healthcare are likely to support persistent growth in demand for OraSure's at-home and point-of-care diagnostics, driving multi-year revenue growth opportunities.
- Renewed customer relationships and increased focus on international markets, combined with management's disciplined capital deployment and a strengthened balance sheet, provide a foundation for sustained earnings growth and margin expansion as end markets stabilize and funding uncertainties resolve.
OraSure Technologies Future Earnings and Revenue Growth
Assumptions
How have these above catalysts been quantified?- Analysts are assuming OraSure Technologies's revenue will grow by 1.8% annually over the next 3 years.
- Analysts are not forecasting that OraSure Technologies will become profitable in next 3 years. To represent the Analyst Price Target as a Future PE Valuation we will estimate OraSure Technologies's profit margin will increase from -36.8% to the average US Medical Equipment industry of 12.3% in 3 years.
- If OraSure Technologies's profit margin were to converge on the industry average, you could expect earnings to reach $18.0 million (and earnings per share of $0.27) by about September 2028, up from $-51.0 million today.
- In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 28.1x on those 2028 earnings, up from -4.8x today. This future PE is lower than the current PE for the US Medical Equipment industry at 29.7x.
- Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to decline by 1.95% per year for the next 3 years.
- To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 7.52%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.
OraSure Technologies Future Earnings Per Share Growth
Risks
What could happen that would invalidate this narrative?- Ongoing uncertainty around funding for key public health programs, both in the U.S. and internationally (e.g., potential cuts at HHS/CDC and USAID funding freezes) could materially decrease demand for OraSure's core diagnostic products and reduce future revenue and earnings visibility.
- Heavy reliance on a small set of large customers-such as the significant revenue decline from a single consumer genetics client and dependence on programs like Together Take Me Home-leaves the company exposed to volatility if customer demand remains muted or fails to recover, directly impacting revenue and margin stability.
- Secular reductions in research and academic funding (e.g., NIH budget cuts) and mixed end market conditions are creating challenges for new product adoption in the Sample Management Solutions segment, potentially limiting top-line growth and pressuring overall margins.
- The company's meaningful ongoing investment in R&D and product innovation (e.g., Sherlock platform, HEMAcollect PROTEIN, Colli-Pee) may compress net margins and delay earnings improvement if new products take longer to gain adoption or face regulatory/commercial hurdles.
- Intensifying competition and commoditization in rapid diagnostics (including possible shifts towards centralized/lab-based or AI-driven diagnostics) could erode OraSure's prices, market share, and long-term profitability if it cannot quickly and effectively differentiate or expand its portfolio.
Valuation
How have all the factors above been brought together to estimate a fair value?- The analysts have a consensus price target of $6.0 for OraSure Technologies based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors.
- In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be $146.3 million, earnings will come to $18.0 million, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 28.1x, assuming you use a discount rate of 7.5%.
- Given the current share price of $3.35, the analyst price target of $6.0 is 44.2% higher.
- We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.
How well do narratives help inform your perspective?
Disclaimer
AnalystConsensusTarget is a tool utilizing a Large Language Model (LLM) that ingests data on consensus price targets, forecasted revenue and earnings figures, as well as the transcripts of earnings calls to produce qualitative analysis. The narratives produced by AnalystConsensusTarget are general in nature and are based solely on analyst data and publicly-available material published by the respective companies. These scenarios are not indicative of the company's future performance and are exploratory in nature. Simply Wall St has no position in the company(s) mentioned. Simply Wall St may provide the securities issuer or related entities with website advertising services for a fee, on an arm's length basis. These relationships have no impact on the way we conduct our business, the content we host, or how our content is served to users. The price targets and estimates used are consensus data, and do not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and they do not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Note that AnalystConsensusTarget's analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.



