ILMN vs PACB Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
ILMN (Illumina) and PACB (PacBio) are both DNA sequencing companies but with different technologies — Illumina's dominant short-read sequencing platform handles 80%+ of global sequencing volume, while PacBio's HiFi long-read technology addresses applications requiring complete genomic assembly that short-read sequencing cannot achieve. They are partially complementary rather than purely competing technologies.
ILMN vs PACB is dominant short-read sequencing monopoly (Illumina) versus emerging long-read sequencing platform (PacBio) — both serve DNA sequencing but at different scale, profitability stage, and application scope with technologies that often complement rather than directly compete.
ILMN holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. ILMN leads on both 1-year return (+93.86%) and forward P/E quality (35.36x vs -3.26x for PACB), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. ILMN leads on both revenue growth (9.40%) and operating margin (21.14%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for PACB (+73.61%) than for ILMN (-7.74%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want the near-monopoly in global DNA sequencing infrastructure with dominant consumable reagent pull-through revenue from the installed base of Illumina instruments in labs worldwide
- Value Illumina's decades-long record of reducing sequencing cost per genome, driving volume adoption in clinical applications, population genomics, and research
- See clinical genomics (cancer, reproductive health) adoption as the next major growth driver for Illumina's platform beyond research and agricultural genomics
- Want long-read sequencing exposure as PacBio's HiFi technology addresses complex genomic applications (structural variants, complete assembly, methylation) growing in research and clinical importance
- Value PacBio's Revio platform as a significant capacity expansion enabling large-scale population genomics projects that previously required Illumina for economic reasons
- Accept pre-profitability investment phase risk in exchange for potential upside if long-read sequencing expands its addressable market alongside short-read applications
| Metric | ILMN | PACB |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 42.8 | 25.4 |
| AI ranki | #1140 | #3104 |
| Latest closei | $226.54 | $2.55 |
| 1M returni | -22.86% | -11.15% |
| 3M returni | +13.34% | +96.15% |
| 6M returni | +58.89% | +49.12% |
| 1Y returni | +93.86% | +27.50% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | ILMN | PACB |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $18.5K (+85.0%) started 2025-11-05 | $12.75K (+27.5%) started 2025-11-04 |
| 5Y ago | $5.71K (-42.9%) started 2021-11-05 | $874.49 (-91.3%) started 2021-11-05 |
| 10Y ago | $16.99K (+69.9%) started 2016-11-07 | $3.5K (-65.0%) started 2016-11-07 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | ILMN | PACB |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $32.55B | $410.3M |
| Trailing P/Ei | 40.15 | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | 35.36 | -3.26 |
| Price/Salesi | 3.02 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 7.55 | 5.46 |
| Analyst targeti | $198.89 | $2.29 |
| Target upsidei | -7.74% | +73.61% |
| Metric | ILMN | PACB |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 9.40% | -1.90% |
| Earnings growthi | -9.40% | N/A |
| EPS growthi | -9.40% | N/A |
| FCF margini | +17.75% | +183.11% |
| Operating margini | 21.14% | -114.36% |
| Profit margini | 18.34% | -82.49% |
| ROIC proxyi | 32.34% | -929.32% |
| Return on equityi | 32.34% | -929.32% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 1.46 | 2.32 |
| Debt/equityi | 89.04 | N/A |
| Current ratioi | 1.80 | 4.92 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.25 | 3.90 |
Over the past year, ILMN and PACB have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.45), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | ILMN | PACB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +85.02% | +27.50% |
| CAGRi | +85.17% | +27.52% | |
| Volatilityi | 48.50% | 93.17% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.45 | 0.67 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 2.06 | 1.06 | |
| Max drawdowni | 25.66% | 58.43% | |
| Current drawdowni | 22.86% | 12.07% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.30% | 35.46% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 10.44% | 38.95% | |
| Max daily dropi | 21.90% | 15.44% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 17.33% | 27.43% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -42.94% | -91.26% |
| CAGRi | -10.62% | -38.59% | |
| Volatilityi | 48.10% | 97.63% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.09 | -0.05 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.13 | -0.08 | |
| Max drawdowni | 82.95% | 96.91% | |
| Current drawdowni | 45.05% | 91.35% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 58.42% | 81.22% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 61.19% | 83.07% | |
| Max daily dropi | 21.90% | 50.70% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 30.76% | 61.22% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +69.89% | -65.02% |
| CAGRi | +5.45% | -9.98% | |
| Volatilityi | 42.71% | 86.52% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.23 | 0.26 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.34 | 0.39 | |
| Max drawdowni | 86.23% | 98.22% | |
| Current drawdowni | 55.63% | 95.01% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 38.59% | 64.22% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 49.07% | 70.68% | |
| Max daily dropi | 21.90% | 50.70% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 30.76% | 61.22% |
| Category | ILMN | PACB |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Illumina, Inc. | Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Diagnostics & Research | Medical Devices |
| Core business | Illumina is the dominant provider of DNA sequencing systems and reagents for genomics research, clinical applications (cancer genomics, reproductive health), and population genomics — with approximately 80%+ of global genomic sequencing performed on Illumina instruments. | PacBio develops HiFi long-read DNA sequencing technology capable of reading very long DNA sequences (10,000-25,000 base pairs) with high accuracy — enabling complete genomic assembly, structural variant detection, and methylation analysis that short-read Illumina sequencing cannot achieve. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Illumina's instrument placements, consumable pull-through revenue per instrument (the recurring high-margin reagent revenue), clinical genomics adoption, and the post-Grail acquisition divestiture and management transition. | Investors track PacBio's instrument placements, Revio system adoption (the latest high-throughput long-read platform), consumable revenue growth, and the company's path to profitability as revenue grows to cover its significant R&D and operating cost base. |
- Near-monopoly in short-read sequencing — Illumina's sequencing-by-synthesis chemistry and NovaSeq instrument platform are the global standard for high-throughput genomics research and clinical applications
- Consumable reagent pull-through model creates significant recurring revenue — each Illumina instrument generates ongoing reagent purchases for years or decades
- Scale advantages in sequencing chemistry R&D and manufacturing have allowed Illumina to consistently reduce sequencing cost per genome over 20+ years
- Long-read sequencing accuracy advantage — HiFi reads provide complete, accurate single-molecule sequences that can detect structural variants, complex genomic regions, and epigenetic modifications inaccessible to short-read platforms
- Complementary to Illumina — most large-scale sequencing projects use both short-read (Illumina) for depth and long-read (PacBio) for complex assembly, reducing the zero-sum competition between them
- Revio high-throughput system dramatically increased PacBio's throughput capacity — enabling larger population genomics and clinical research projects on long-read platforms
- Illumina acquired Grail (liquid biopsy cancer detection) in 2021, then was forced to divest it by EU regulators in 2023 — the Grail saga cost Illumina billions in write-offs and management distraction
- Long-read sequencing from PacBio and Oxford Nanopore Technologies is growing in applications where complete genomic assembly is needed, potentially reducing Illumina short-read market over time
- Competition from MGI (Chinese genomics company, a subsidiary of BGI) has introduced lower-priced sequencing instruments, particularly outside the U.S., pressuring Illumina's international pricing
- PacBio is not yet profitable — the company burns cash as it invests in instrument development and go-to-market; profitability requires continued instrument placements and consumable pull-through growth
- Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) is a competing long-read sequencing company with a different technology (nanopore-based rather than SMRT chemistry) that competes with PacBio for long-read applications
- The Illumina merger attempt was blocked by regulators — Illumina's 2021 proposed acquisition of PacBio's then-parent was not completed due to antitrust concerns
Compare more than two at a time
This page is a fixed writeup on ILMN and PACB. Our comparison engine is the interactive version: load up to five tickers, switch timeframes, and get the correlation, drawdown, and overlap analysis that a static page can't show.
Add three more names beside ILMN and PACB, mixing stocks and ETFs in the same table — useful when the real question is which of a whole peer group to own.
AI score, forward P/E, analyst target upside, operating margin, and revenue growth are scored head-to-head, with a running tally of which ticker leads on how many metrics.
Volatility, Sharpe and Sortino ratios, maximum, current, and average drawdown, Ulcer Index, and worst single-day and single-week drops across every timeframe.
Pairwise daily-return correlation for every combination, so you can see whether two holdings actually diversify each other or just move together.
A scatter plot of forward P/E against return on equity, plus drawdown and 30-day rolling volatility charts, to separate what is cheap from what is merely beaten down.
For ETFs, a top-holdings comparison that exposes hidden overlap between funds. Every comparison exports to CSV for your own spreadsheet work.
Two comparisons a week are free without an account. A 14-day trial removes the limit and adds AI price forecasts, stock rankings, saved watchlists, and the intrinsic value calculator — no credit card required.
Want deeper AI forecasts?
This comparison page is public and free forever. Subscribers can unlock saved watchlists, full AI rankings, detailed forecasts, and interactive analysis tools.