GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $101.53, but opened at $49.66. GRAIL shares last traded at $53.3090, with a volume of 3,450,288 shares trading hands.

Key Stories Impacting GRAIL

Here are the key news stories impacting GRAIL this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations: GRAIL reported EPS above estimates, U.S. Galleri revenue grew ~26% to $136.8M, sold >185k tests in 2025, completed FDA PMA submission and says it has cash runway into 2030 — supports commercial progress and near‑term liquidity. GRAIL Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: NHS‑Galleri showed clinically meaningful secondary signals: topline reported a substantial reduction in stage IV diagnoses, increased stage I‑II detection and a four‑fold higher cancer detection rate — these findings could support downstream regulatory/commercial arguments despite the primary miss. Landmark NHS-Galleri Trial Demonstrates …
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Robert W. Baird issued an Outperform rating, which may cushion downside for some investors. GRAIL Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Robert W. Baird
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational updates: company completed analysis of PATHFINDER 2 and announced U.S. sales‑force expansion — supportive for commercialization but not immediately dispositive for valuation. GRAIL Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Negative Sentiment: Primary endpoint missed: the trial did not achieve a statistically significant combined reduction in stage III‑IV cancers — the headline miss triggered broad investor sell‑off and drove the sharp share decline. Grail shares plunge after major cancer screening trial misses main goal
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and headlines: multiple outlets report the trial “failed to show reduction in late‑stage diagnoses,” amplifying negative sentiment and heavy trading volume — short‑term liquidity and sentiment risk elevated. Grail shares plunge on mixed cancer trial data and steep losses
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/claims risk: a securities‑law firm has opened an investigation into potential shareholder claims, which can increase headline risk and legal uncertainty. Grail Shareholders Are Encouraged to Reach Out to Johnson Fistel

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GRAL shares. Robert W. Baird set a $82.00 price objective on shares of GRAIL in a research note on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $80.00 price target on GRAIL in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen started coverage on GRAIL in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of GRAIL from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, GRAIL presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.50.

GRAIL Trading Down 49.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.44 and a beta of 4.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.82.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($2.44) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($3.33) by $0.89. GRAIL had a negative net margin of 286.43% and a negative return on equity of 15.69%. The business had revenue of $43.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.33 million. Research analysts predict that GRAIL, Inc. will post -15.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in GRAIL by 17.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 88,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after buying an additional 13,264 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in GRAIL by 28.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 390.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 37.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 92,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 25,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of GRAIL in the second quarter worth about $6,164,000.

About GRAIL

GRAIL, Inc (NASDAQ: GRAL) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the early detection of cancer through a multi-cancer blood test. Leveraging advances in next-generation sequencing, cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis and machine learning, GRAIL has developed the Galleri™ test, which aims to identify more than 50 types of cancer at their earliest stages. The company’s platform analyzes methylation patterns in circulating tumor DNA to pinpoint tumor presence and tissue of origin, enabling physicians to pursue timely diagnostic follow-up.

Founded in 2016 as a spin-out from Illumina, GRAIL established its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, with additional research and operations centers in the United Kingdom.