Illuminavs.Waters Corporation
ILMN vs WAT · both in Life science tools, part of the Medicine, pharma & life science value chain: Instruments, reagents and equipment for research, development and production.
Illumina and Waters Corporation are similar in size by market cap; Illumina trades at the lower P/E (49.3 vs 255.2); year to date, Illumina leads (+101.7% vs +13.0%).
Side by side
| ILMN | WAT | |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $40.7B | $42.4B |
| Price | $278.17 | $433.77 |
| Today | +5.1% | +1.1% |
| Return YTD | +101.7% | +13.0% |
| Return 1Y | +170.6% | +31.0% |
| Since June 26, 2026 | +57.6% | +15.9% |
| P/E | 49.3 | 255.2 |
| P/S | 9.1 | 9.1 |
| P/B | 14.3 | 2.8 |
Data as of 2026-10-09 · updates daily after U.S. close
Since June 26, 2026: the change in the closing price, from the daily closes Sectivia records itself since that date.
The two companies
IlluminaILMN
DNA sequencing machines and the reagents they consume, for research and clinical genomics.
Full ILMN profile →Waters CorporationWAT
Waters sells liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry systems; pharmaceutical companies and other laboratories buy them along with the consumables and software that keep them running.
Full WAT profile →More ILMN & WAT comparisons
Other head-to-heads in the Life science tools segment.