Tempus AI, Inc. (TEM) Down 5.3% — Time to Reverse Course?
Tempus AI, Inc. (TEM) is sliding down this Thursday, last changing hands at $77.57 — $4.33 decline from the prior close of $81.90. The pullback leaves the stock roughly 25.6% below its 52-week high of $104.32, a level reached on October 9, 2025. The stock still sits about 90% above the bottom of its 52-week range of $40.77, which shows how much ground it has recovered over the past year even after today's retreat.
Volume so far in the session stands at approximately 2.86 million shares, compared with a 90-day average of roughly 6.73 million. Turnover is running at about 42% of that average, so the decline is unfolding on relatively light trading.
Why Tempus AI, Inc. Price is Moving Lower
The most plausible driver of today's 5.29% decline is profit-taking after a steep run-up. A September 19 report noted that shares had climbed 31.9% as investors focused on Tempus's initiative to build a 100,000-genome research platform, with plans to scale toward one million genomes. A gain of that size, built on a long-dated data ambition rather than near-term earnings, leaves the stock exposed to concern that expectations have outrun the business. Valuation skepticism was already visible on Wall Street. On September 21, Goldman Sachs initiated coverage at Neutral with a $75 price target, below where the shares were trading at the time. Even after today's drop, the stock at $77.57 remains above that target.
The broader tape does not explain a move of this size. The S&P 500 Health Care sector slipped just 0.2% on October 1, while the Nasdaq gained 0.24% and technology rose 1.2%. Sector peers were mixed. Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) eased 0.63%, while Natera, Inc. (NTRA), a closer comparison in genomic diagnostics, gained 1.30%. That divergence points to stock-specific repositioning in TEM rather than a group-wide retreat.
The selling also runs against a run of favorable company news. On September 28, the FDA cleared Tempus ECG-MR, the company's fourth cleared ECG-AI product, which is designed to flag signs of moderate or severe mitral regurgitation. On October 1, Tempus said 13 abstracts had been accepted for the ESMO congress, scheduled for October 23–27. The most recent quarterly results were solid as well. Q2 revenue, reported on July 30, came in at $382.49 million against a $380.95 million estimate, up 21.6% year over year. The adjusted loss of $0.04 per share was much narrower than the $0.13 loss analysts expected. Management also raised 2026 revenue guidance to $1.595 billion–$1.605 billion. None of this points to a deterioration in fundamentals. Today's move reflects investors locking in gains after a rapid rally and weighing how much future growth the share price already assumes.
What is the Tempus AI, Inc. Rating - Should I Sell?
Weiss Ratings assigns TEM a E+ rating. Current recommendation is Sell. The E+ rating reflects a company whose top-line momentum and balance sheet have not yet translated into a profitable operating model. Investors are paying a premium for that gap.
The stronger dimensions start with the Solvency Index, rated Good. Tempus does not appear to face immediate balance-sheet strain while it continues to fund losses, which matters for a company still investing heavily in sequencing capacity, data assets, and AI products. The Fair rating on the Growth Index reflects real expansion. Revenue grew 21.56%, and quarterly sales rose 9.9% from $348.12 million in the March quarter to $382.49 million in the June quarter. The rating stops at Fair, however, because that revenue growth is not yet producing earnings growth. A diagnostics and data platform at this scale still reports trailing EPS of -$1.44.
Where the picture deteriorates is efficiency. The Very Weak rating on the Efficiency Index is backed by a -17.76% profit margin. For a company marketing proprietary data libraries and software as its edge, that figure shows the lab-heavy testing business still absorbs more than the licensing and AI revenue can offset. A forward P/E of -59.03 points the same direction: analysts do not expect profitability in the coming year. The Weak Volatility Index reflects a 52-week range stretching from $40.77 to $104.32. Today's 5.29% giveback, following a 31.9% rally in September, is the kind of swing that keeps the Volatility Index from being rated higher. The stock has nearly doubled off its low but still trades about a quarter below its October 2025 peak. That uneven path for holders is why the Total Return Index is rated Fair rather than Good.
Within the Health Care sector, Tempus AI sits below Natera, Inc. (NTRA, D-), Moderna, Inc. (MRNA, D-), and Zoetis Inc. (ZTS, D). Several of its peers also carry Sell-range ratings, but Tempus ranks near the bottom of that group on Weiss's risk/reward framework.
About Tempus AI, Inc.
Tempus AI, Inc. (TEM) is a Health Care company that combines laboratory diagnostics with artificial intelligence and one of the larger repositories of multimodal clinical data in the United States. Incorporated in 2015 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the company operated as Tempus Labs, Inc. until it adopted the Tempus AI name in January 2023. Its core offering is the Tempus platform, a closed-loop system that links a clinician's desktop with the company's diagnostic labs, analytics tools, and data repository. Physicians interact with that system through Hub, an end-to-end application for ordering and managing next-generation sequencing tests.
On the diagnostics side, the company's xT and xR assays deliver large-panel DNA sequencing, full RNA transcriptome analysis, and incidental germline findings through normal blood or saliva samples. These assays are complemented by solid tumor and hematologic testing, PCR profiling, and anatomic and molecular pathology services. Tempus extends beyond oncology through hereditary genetic testing and its nP assay, a pharmacogenomic test for patients with depression, generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, and related psychiatric conditions. Its algorithm-based diagnostics, offered through Algos, include the growing family of FDA-cleared ECG-AI tools.
The data business is where Tempus seeks its competitive advantage. Insights licenses libraries of linked, de-identified clinical, molecular, and imaging data. Lens gives life sciences researchers a software environment for precision research, and Organoids provides tumor-derived biological models. Trials matches patients to clinical studies, while Next applies AI to identify gaps in patient care. The company counts AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, and Pathos AI among its strategic collaborators, and it is working with Blood Cancer United on a registry for pediatric acute myeloid leukemia. These partnerships, together with a data asset built from years of testing volume, give Tempus a position that newer entrants would find difficult to replicate.
Investor Outlook
Tempus AI, Inc. (TEM) carries a Weiss Rating of E+ (Sell). The shares remain vulnerable to further swings while valuation runs ahead of profitability, even with revenue growth and recent product news working in the company's favor. Investors should watch the ESMO presentations from October 23–27, whether Q3 results keep the company on track for its raised $1.595 billion–$1.605 billion revenue guidance, and whether margins move meaningfully closer to breakeven. See full rankings of all E+ rated Health Care stocks inside the Weiss Stock Screener.
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