Illumina (ILMN) Competitors

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) and Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, risk and community ranking.

Do analysts recommend ILMN or A?

Illumina presently has a consensus target price of $126.94, suggesting a potential upside of 43.40%. Agilent Technologies has a consensus target price of $140.15, suggesting a potential upside of 15.95%. Given Illumina's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Illumina is more favorable than Agilent Technologies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Illumina	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.47
Agilent Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has more volatility & risk, ILMN or A?

Illumina has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Agilent Technologies has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ILMN or A?

89.4% of Illumina shares are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of Illumina shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer ILMN or A?

In the previous week, Illumina had 6 more articles in the media than Agilent Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Illumina and 10 mentions for Agilent Technologies. Illumina's average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat Agilent Technologies' score of 1.23 indicating that Illumina is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Illumina	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Agilent Technologies	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ILMN or A more profitable?

Agilent Technologies has a net margin of 17.59% compared to Illumina's net margin of -27.95%. Agilent Technologies' return on equity of 25.92% beat Illumina's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Illumina	-27.95%	13.37%	5.49%
Agilent Technologies	17.59%	25.92%	13.24%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ILMN or A?

Illumina received 245 more outperform votes than Agilent Technologies when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 71.04% of users gave Agilent Technologies an outperform vote while only 65.15% of users gave Illumina an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Illumina	Outperform Votes 1116 65.15%	Underperform Votes 597 34.85%
Agilent Technologies	Outperform Votes 871 71.04%	Underperform Votes 355 28.96%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, ILMN or A?

Agilent Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Illumina. Illumina is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Agilent Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Illumina	$4.34B	3.23	-$1.22B	-$6.07	-14.58
Agilent Technologies	$6.51B	5.27	$1.29B	$4.05	29.84

Summary

Agilent Technologies beats Illumina on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.