$432M of cash, FY26 adj EBITDA guidance of -$15M to $0M. NovoCure is genuinely close to operating profitability.
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✦ The bottom line
NovoCure ended Q1 2026 with $432 million in cash and short-term investments. Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 was negative $300,000 — essentially breakeven. Management's full-year 2026 guidance is for adjusted EBITDA of -$15M to $0M. That puts profitability within sight.
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✦ Teach me
Why 'adjusted' EBITDA needs scrutiny
Adjusted EBITDA strips out interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, AND stock-based compensation — that last one is the controversial part. In Q1 2026, NovoCure took a $43M one-time stock-comp charge triggered by the Optune Pax FDA approval. Without that adjustment, GAAP G&A was up 92%. The 'adjusted' number is closer to operating reality — but stock comp is still a real cost that dilutes shareholders.
Wall Street calls this
Non-GAAP earnings
When a company gets close to breakeven, the gap between GAAP loss and adjusted-EBITDA breakeven becomes the most important number to watch.
The cushion · cash position
$432
M
$432 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments at quarter-end — comfortable cushion given that operations are nearly breakeven on an adjusted basis.
The other reason NovoCure is so close to breakeven is gross margin. At 78% in Q1 2026 (up from 75% prior year), TTFields is a high-margin product line — closer to a specialty drug than a medical device. Patches cost less to make as utilization scales.
The unit economics · gross margin
78
%
Gross margin of 78% in Q1 2026, up from 75% a year earlier — driven by lower transducer array costs and improved utilization. Management's FY guidance assumes mid-70s%.