QGEN vs CTKB vs ILMN Stock Comparison

Qiagen, Cytek Biosciences and Illumina Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
QGEN Qiagen N.V.
$50.37 +14.0% 1M -3.0% 1Y
Market cap
$10.91B
P/E
26.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.10B
Div. yield
–
Life Sciences Tools Healthcare
6 wins
CTKB Cytek Biosciences, Inc.
$5.89 +4.2% 1M +38.3% 1Y
Market cap
$770.94M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$206.71M
Div. yield
–
Life Sciences Tools Healthcare
1 win
ILMN Illumina, Inc.
$271.04 +0.4% 1M +170.7% 1Y
Market cap
$42.23B
P/E
51.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.49B
Div. yield
–
Life Sciences Tools Healthcare
4 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.

QuestionQGENCTKBILMNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $10.91B $770.94M $42.23B ILMN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.6x -9.6x 51.2x QGEN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.4x — 54.3x QGEN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.0% +5.4% +4.9% CTKB
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 19.5% -39.0% 18.4% QGEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.9% — 15.1% ILMN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x — 0.7x ILMN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.0% +38.3% +170.7% ILMN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.3%/yr -24.1%/yr -7.5%/yr QGEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.8% 55.9% 50.4% QGEN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 71/100 40/100 65/100 QGEN

Percentile Scorecard

QGENCTKBILMN

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

AxisQGENCTKBILMN
Valuation 76 #56 of 228 55 #103 of 228 52 #111 of 228
Growth 30 #155 of 221 3 #214 of 221 44 #124 of 221
Profitability 92 #17 of 208 44 #116 of 208 97 #7 of 208
Financial Health 63 #90 of 239 53 #113 of 239 51 #118 of 239
Shareholder Returns 94 #9 of 137 46 #74 of 137 84 #23 of 137
Overall 71 40 65
  • QGEN ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • CTKB ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • ILMN ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodQGENCTKBILMNSPY
1 month +14.0%+4.2%+0.4% -0.8%
3 months +22.6%+33.6%+43.1% +3.5%
6 months +32.2%+32.1%+110.9% +7.0%
Year to date +6.4%+16.6%+106.6% +12.2%
1 year -3.0%+38.3%+170.7% +13.0%
3 years +25.0%+36.0%+155.1% +86.3%
3 years, per year +7.7%+10.8%+36.7% +23.1%
5 years -15.6%-74.7%-32.4% +68.6%
5 years, per year -3.3%-24.1%-7.5% +11.0%
10 years +75.9%—+99.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +5.8%—+7.1% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureQGENCTKBILMNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.8%55.9%50.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.5%55.0%39.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.470.870.81 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.080.683.39 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -48.2%-90.3%-82.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.5%-3.3%-7.7% -1.8%
52-week high $55.66$6.09$293.69 $779.14
52-week low $32.63$3.36$95.03 $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.

MultipleQGENCTKBILMN
P/E now vs peer median 26.7xmedian 30.6x -9.5xmedian 30.6x 49.6xmedian 30.6x
P/S now vs peer median 5.2xmedian 3.0x 3.7xmedian 3.0x 9.1xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.1xmedian 17.5x -18.7xmedian 17.5x 36.2xmedian 17.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.0xmedian 23.3x -63.4xmedian 23.3x 44.0xmedian 23.3x
P/B now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 2.4x 2.4xmedian 2.4x 14.4xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 3.62median 0.87 0.07median 0.87 1.65median 0.87

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 monthsQGENCTKBILMN
Revenue $2.10B $206.71M $4.49B
Gross profit $1.31B $110.03M $2.98B
Operating income $445.43M -$44.65M $882.00M
Net income $409.32M -$80.58M $825.00M
Free cash flow $991.33M -$12.08M $931.00M
R&D $194.67M $37.26M $960.00M
EPS (diluted) $1.87 $-0.62 $5.39
Cash & equivalents $768.50M $73.85M $1.04B
Total debt $6.86B – $1.99B
Shares (diluted) 218.88M 129.46M 153.00M
Enterprise value $6.68B $447.21M $36.99B

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
MetricQGENCTKBILMN
P/E 26.7x -9.5x 49.6x
P/FCF 11.0x -63.4x 44.0x
P/Operating cash flow 16.7x -126.8x 37.4x
P/S 5.2x 3.7x 9.1x
P/B 3.3x 2.4x 14.4x
P/Tangible book 3.6x 2.5x 16.9x
EV/EBITDA 18.1x -18.7x 36.2x
EV/EBIT 26.4x -15.5x 47.3x
EV/Revenue 5.6x 3.3x 9.3x
EV/FCF 11.9x -57.3x 44.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.0x -114.6x 38.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.62 0.07 1.65

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricQGENCTKBILMN
Debt / assets 27.9% – 29.9%
Debt / equity 0.5x – 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x – 0.7x
Debt / FCF 1.7x – 2.1x
Liabilities / assets 43.0% 28.0% 57.3%
Equity / assets 57.0% 72.0% 42.7%
Interest coverage 11.3x -143.1x 8.9x
Current ratio 2.8x 4.5x 1.8x
Quick ratio 2.0x 1.5x 1.2x
Cash ratio 1.4x 0.9x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 4.08 4.18 7.77

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricQGENCTKBILMN
Dividend yield 5.2% – –
Net buyback yield 0.6% -0.2% 1.2%
Shareholder yield 5.8% -0.2% 1.2%
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.

ConsensusQGENCTKBILMN
Forward P/E 21.4xFY2026 – 54.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.35FY2026 $-0.32FY2026 $4.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -1.3%FY2026 – +3.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.4% – +25.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.25BFY2026 $197.36MFY2026 $4.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.8%FY2026 -2.1%FY2026 +4.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -2.8% +9.9% +12.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersQGENCTKBILMN
Held by institutions 67.3% 62.8% 100.0%
Institutions holding 337 156 933
Change in shares held, QoQ +16.5% -4.1% +0.0%
Institutions buying 215 75 463
Institutions selling 86 64 330
Buyers to sellers 2.50 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.

QGENCTKBILMN
QGEN 1.00 0.23 0.39
CTKB 0.23 1.00 0.33
ILMN 0.39 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, QGEN, CTKB and ILMN?

Illumina (ILMN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Qiagen (QGEN) $10.91B, Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) $770.94M, Illumina (ILMN) $42.23B.

Which stock is cheaper, QGEN, CTKB and ILMN?

Qiagen (QGEN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Qiagen (QGEN) 26.6x, Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) -9.6x, Illumina (ILMN) 51.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Qiagen (QGEN) is cheapest (Qiagen (QGEN) 21.4x, Illumina (ILMN) 54.3x). 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: Qiagen (QGEN) +3.0%, Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) +5.4%, Illumina (ILMN) +4.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Illumina (ILMN) returned the most: Qiagen (QGEN) -3.0%, Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) +38.3%, Illumina (ILMN) +170.7%. Over five years, Qiagen (QGEN) compounded fastest (Qiagen (QGEN) -3.3%/yr, Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) -24.1%/yr, Illumina (ILMN) -7.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Qiagen (QGEN) has been the steadiest (Qiagen (QGEN) 35.8%, Cytek Biosciences (CTKB) 55.9%, Illumina (ILMN) 50.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.