Exelixis Extends Cabozantinib Sales Gain With Price Mix

The Tip Desk · October 30, 2026 · 4 min read

Third-quarter total revenues reached $658.7 million as net product sales of $604.9 million rose on both volume and average net selling price.

Exelixis, Inc. (EXEL), the oncology company, reported third-quarter 2026 total revenues of $658.7 million, up from $597.8 million a year earlier, as cabozantinib product sales continued to climb and the company kept full-year 2026 revenue guidance unchanged.

Net product revenues were $604.9 million, compared with $542.9 million in the year-ago quarter. The company said the increase was primarily due to both higher sales volume and a higher average net selling price, a mix that differed from the prior two quarters, when it attributed the product-revenue rise primarily to volume.

That product line had already been rising through the year: net product revenues were $573.0 million in the second quarter and $555.0 million in the first. Total revenues followed the same path, at $628.7 million in the second quarter and $610.8 million in the first.

Collaboration revenues, made up of license income and collaboration services, were $53.8 million, down from $54.8 million a year earlier. Exelixis said the decline related to lower milestone-related revenues and lower development-cost reimbursements, partly offset by higher royalties on cabozantinib sold outside the United States by partner Ipsen.

GAAP net income was $218.1 million, or $0.85 a share diluted, versus $193.6 million, or $0.69 a share diluted, a year earlier. Non-GAAP net income was $240.2 million, or $0.94 a share diluted. Diluted GAAP earnings per share were $0.82 in the second quarter and $0.79 in the first; non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.91 and $0.87. The company said GAAP net income per share was favorably affected by lower weighted-average shares outstanding from stock repurchase programs.

Research and development expenses were $209.5 million, versus $199.2 million a year earlier, on higher personnel and clinical-trial costs partly offset by lower license and collaboration costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $154.6 million, versus $123.7 million a year earlier, on higher personnel, marketing, and legal and advisory fees. The provision for income taxes was $64.7 million.

Full-year 2026 guidance was left at $2.500 billion to $2.550 billion for total revenues and $2.300 billion to $2.350 billion for net product revenues, unchanged from the August 5 outlook. The net-product range still includes a 3.0% U.S. wholesale acquisition cost increase for CABOMETYX and COMETRIQ effective January 1, 2026. Guidance does not currently reflect any revenues from a potential U.S. approval and launch of zanzalintinib in previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer. The company narrowed its expected effective tax rate to 16% to 18% from 21% to 23% and set cost of goods sold at about 4% of net product revenues, versus a 3.5% to 4.5% range.

The FDA extended review of the zanzalintinib-plus-atezolizumab NDA by three months after Exelixis submitted updated safety and efficacy data, moving the PDUFA target action date to March 3, 2027 from the December 3, 2026 date cited in the first-quarter update. STELLAR-303 met its overall-survival primary endpoint in the intention-to-treat population; a June 2026 final analysis of overall survival in the non-liver-metastases subpopulation showed a non-statistically significant trend favoring the combination.

In August the company initiated phase 3 STELLAR-316 with Merck and Natera in resected stage II/III colorectal cancer with molecular residual disease, and it said it expects topline results from phase 3 STELLAR-304 in non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma in the first quarter of 2027. Merck-sponsored LITESPARK-033 and LITESPARK-034 remain active.

Under the May 2026 authorization of up to $750 million through December 31, 2027, Exelixis had repurchased $402.1 million of stock at an average $54.03 a share by quarter-end. Since March 2023 it has repurchased $3.2 billion, retiring 97.8 million shares at an average $32.25.

On October 28 the company entered a settlement and license with Azurity, granting a U.S. 505(b)(2) cabozantinib license beginning December 1, 2030 if approved, while the existing generic effective date remains January 1, 2031. A Federal Circuit appeal affirmed patent validity against MSN Laboratories, pushing any MSN ANDA effective date no earlier than January 15, 2030, subject to further proceedings and a separate trial scheduled for November 2026.