Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDP) stock is trading lower on Thursday after the company reported its first-quarter earnings performance.
• Medpace Holdings shares are sliding. Why is MEDP stock falling?
Cancellations Surge, Pressure Near-Term Outlook
CEO August Troendle highlighted that the current quarter saw cancellations rise again, with backlog cancellations reaching their highest point in over a year.
Most of the cancellations in the quarter were oncology and cardiovascular.
In an investor call, the CEO said that the cancellations remain elevated across both backlog and pre-backlog, creating near-term revenue pressure.
Sequential growth is expected to be flat, as reflected in the first quarter versus the rest of the year, though year-over-year growth should still hold.
Visibility beyond the next two quarters is limited, and management is not yet in a position to assess 2027.
Overall, the near-term growth trajectory — both now and over the next six months — remains uncertain.
Revenue and EPS Beat Estimates
The clinical contract research organization reported earnings of $4.28, beating the consensus of $3.88.
Sales reached $706.6 million, up 26.5% year over year, beating the Wall Street estimates of $697.66 million.
Bookings Miss Raises Analyst Concerns
Backlog as of March 31, 2026, increased 2.9% to $2,929.2 million from $2,846.0 million as of March 31, 2025. Net new business awards were $618.4 million, representing a net book-to-bill ratio of 0.88x for the first quarter of 2026, as compared to $500 million for the comparable prior-year period.
William Blair on Thursday wrote, “For the second consecutive quarter, the key negative in the print was the significant bookings miss recorded in the period, with net new business awards up over 20% year-over-year but down 16% sequentially. Given the lower-than-expected bookings and higher-than-expected revenue in the quarter, net book-to-bill of 0.88x came in well below our 1.05x estimate.”
M&A Seen As Headwind
When talking about biopharma M&A, Troendle commented, “Acquisitions are not good for us,” noting that Medpace is “cut out of future work” after the acquisition.
Medpace affirmed its fiscal 2026 earnings per share guidance of $16.68-$17.50 versus consensus of $17.12, with sales of $2.755 billion-$2.855 billion compared to the consensus of $2.81 billion.
MEDP Stock Price Activity: Medpace shares were down 21.90% at $397.12 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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