CTKB vs ILMN vs QGEN Stock Comparison

Cytek Biosciences, Illumina and Qiagen Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CTKB Cytek Biosciences, Inc.
$5.98 +5.8% 1M +44.1% 1Y
Market cap
$794.24M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$206.71M
Div. yield
–
Life Sciences Tools Healthcare
1 win
ILMN Illumina, Inc.
$279.47 +3.5% 1M +178.5% 1Y
Market cap
$43.74B
P/E
53.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.49B
Div. yield
–
Life Sciences Tools Healthcare
4 wins
QGEN Qiagen N.V.
$50.18 +13.6% 1M -1.5% 1Y
Market cap
$10.93B
P/E
26.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.10B
Div. yield
–
Life Sciences Tools Healthcare
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Qiagen leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Qiagen 6, Illumina 4, Cytek Biosciences 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCTKBILMNQGENLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $794.24M $43.74B $10.93B ILMN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -9.9x 53.0x 26.7x QGEN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 56.0x 21.4x QGEN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.4% +4.9% +3.0% CTKB
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -39.0% 18.4% 19.5% QGEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 15.1% 7.9% ILMN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.7x 1.3x ILMN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +44.1% +178.5% -1.5% ILMN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -23.4%/yr -7.0%/yr -3.8%/yr QGEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 55.8% 50.4% 35.8% QGEN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 41/100 66/100 71/100 QGEN

Percentile Scorecard

CTKBILMNQGEN

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCTKBILMNQGEN
Valuation 54 #104 of 227 51 #111 of 227 76 #56 of 227
Growth 3 #212 of 219 45 #120 of 219 31 #151 of 219
Profitability 45 #114 of 206 97 #8 of 206 93 #16 of 206
Financial Health 53 #112 of 238 51 #117 of 238 63 #89 of 238
Shareholder Returns 47 #71 of 134 84 #23 of 134 94 #9 of 134
Overall 41 66 71
  • CTKB ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • ILMN ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • QGEN ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCTKBILMNQGENSPY
1 month +5.8%+3.5%+13.6% -0.2%
3 months +34.1%+44.8%+18.8% +3.9%
6 months +30.9%+120.2%+47.5% +8.2%
Year to date +18.4%+113.1%+6.0% +12.9%
1 year +44.1%+178.5%-1.5% +12.3%
3 years +38.1%+163.0%+24.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year +11.4%+38.1%+7.6% +23.3%
5 years -73.7%-30.5%-17.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year -23.4%-7.0%-3.8% +10.9%
10 years —+106.3%+74.3% +261.1%
10 years, per year —+7.5%+5.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCTKBILMNQGENSPY
Volatility, 1Y 55.8%50.4%35.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 55.0%39.1%30.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.870.820.47 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.793.54-0.04 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -90.3%-82.9%-48.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.8%-4.8%-9.8% -1.2%
52-week high $6.09$293.69$55.66 $779.14
52-week low $3.36$95.03$32.63 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCTKBILMNQGEN
P/E now vs peer median -9.6xmedian 29.6x 51.2xmedian 29.6x 26.6xmedian 29.6x
P/S now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 2.9x 9.4xmedian 2.9x 5.2xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -19.0xmedian 17.4x 37.3xmedian 17.4x 18.0xmedian 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median -64.3xmedian 22.3x 45.3xmedian 22.3x 11.0xmedian 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 2.3x 14.9xmedian 2.3x 3.2xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.07median 1.04 1.70median 1.04 3.60median 1.04

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCTKBILMNQGEN
Revenue $206.71M $4.49B $2.10B
Gross profit $110.03M $2.98B $1.31B
Operating income -$44.65M $882.00M $445.43M
Net income -$80.58M $825.00M $409.32M
Free cash flow -$12.08M $931.00M $991.33M
R&D $37.26M $960.00M $194.67M
EPS (diluted) $-0.62 $5.39 $1.87
Cash & equivalents $73.85M $1.04B $768.50M
Total debt – $1.99B $6.86B
Shares (diluted) 129.46M 153.00M 218.88M
Enterprise value $470.51M $38.51B $6.70B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCTKBILMNQGEN
P/E -9.6x 51.2x 26.6x
P/FCF -64.3x 45.3x 11.0x
P/Operating cash flow -128.7x 38.5x 16.6x
P/S 3.8x 9.4x 5.2x
P/B 2.4x 14.9x 3.2x
P/Tangible book 2.5x 17.4x 3.6x
EV/EBITDA -19.0x 37.3x 18.0x
EV/EBIT -15.8x 48.8x 26.3x
EV/Revenue 3.4x 9.6x 5.6x
EV/FCF -58.2x 46.2x 11.8x
EV/Operating cash flow -116.5x 39.3x 17.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.07 1.70 3.60

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCTKBILMNQGEN
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.4% 4.9% 3.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.6% -1.0% 2.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 3.1% 4.6% 1.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 1.4% 2.9% 1.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -66.2% -31.8% -4.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -31.0% 28.3% 3.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -1,159% -34.4% 143.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -139.7% 30.0% 6.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -1,134% -32.7% 12.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -141.6% 30.1% 7.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -139.7% -5.1% -3.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -66.7% 38.1% 8.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -211.1% -9.7% 2.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.9% 105.0% 10.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCTKBILMNQGEN
Gross margin 53.2% 66.4% 62.2%
EBITDA margin -17.9% 25.7% 31.0%
Operating margin -21.6% 19.6% 21.2%
Pretax margin -19.7% 22.6% 22.0%
Net margin -39.0% 18.4% 19.5%
FCF margin -5.8% 20.7% 47.2%
Operating cash flow margin -2.9% 24.4% 31.2%
Return on equity -24.8% 29.9% 12.2%
Return on assets -18.0% 12.5% 7.0%
Return on invested capital – 15.1% 7.9%
Return on capital employed -12.3% 17.5% 8.5%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.7x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.1x 1.3x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 10.3% 5.9% 2.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCTKBILMNQGEN
Debt / assets – 29.9% 27.9%
Debt / equity – 0.7x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.7x 1.3x
Debt / FCF – 2.1x 1.7x
Liabilities / assets 28.0% 57.3% 43.0%
Equity / assets 72.0% 42.7% 57.0%
Interest coverage -143.1x 8.9x 11.3x
Current ratio 4.5x 1.8x 2.8x
Quick ratio 1.5x 1.2x 2.0x
Cash ratio 0.9x 0.7x 1.4x
Altman Z-score 4.24 7.97 4.07

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCTKBILMNQGEN
Dividend yield – – 5.3%
Net buyback yield -0.2% 1.2% 0.6%
Shareholder yield -0.2% 1.2% 5.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCTKBILMNQGEN
Forward P/E – 56.0xFY2026 21.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.32FY2026 $4.99FY2026 $2.35FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +3.1%FY2026 -1.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +25.7% +17.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $197.36MFY2026 $4.52BFY2026 $2.25BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.1%FY2026 +4.1%FY2026 +7.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +9.9% +12.0% -2.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCTKBILMNQGEN
Held by institutions 62.8% 100.0% 0.0%
Institutions holding 156 933 1
Change in shares held, QoQ -4.1% +0.0% –
Institutions buying 75 463 0
Institutions selling 64 330 0
Buyers to sellers 1.17 1.40 –

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CTKBILMNQGEN
CTKB 1.00 0.33 0.22
ILMN 0.33 1.00 0.38
QGEN 0.22 0.38 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CTKB, ILMN and QGEN?

Illumina (ILMN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) $794.24M, Illumina (ILMN) $43.74B, Qiagen (QGEN) $10.93B.

Which stock is cheaper, CTKB, ILMN and QGEN?

Qiagen (QGEN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) -9.9x, Illumina (ILMN) 53.0x, Qiagen (QGEN) 26.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Qiagen (QGEN) is cheapest (Illumina (ILMN) 56.0x, Qiagen (QGEN) 21.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) +5.4%, Illumina (ILMN) +4.9%, Qiagen (QGEN) +3.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Qiagen (QGEN) has the highest net margin (Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) -39.0%, Illumina (ILMN) 18.4%, Qiagen (QGEN) 19.5%). On return on invested capital, Illumina (ILMN) leads (Illumina (ILMN) 15.1%, Qiagen (QGEN) 7.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Illumina (ILMN) returned the most: Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) +44.1%, Illumina (ILMN) +178.5%, Qiagen (QGEN) -1.5%. Over five years, Qiagen (QGEN) compounded fastest (Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) -23.4%/yr, Illumina (ILMN) -7.0%/yr, Qiagen (QGEN) -3.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Qiagen (QGEN) has been the steadiest (Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) 55.8%, Illumina (ILMN) 50.4%, Qiagen (QGEN) 35.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CTKB, ILMN and QGEN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Qiagen (QGEN) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.