Illumina vs Waters
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The short version
- Illumina is the larger business, with $4.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.2B for Waters.
- Waters grew revenue faster (7.0%, against −0.7%).
- Waters kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (25.4% operating margin, against 18.6%).
- Illumina turned more of its sales into free cash flow (21.4% FCF margin, against 17.1%).
- Waters earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (21.0%, against 20.3%).
| Latest fiscal year | ILMN · FY25 | WAT · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $41.2B | $44.6B |
| Revenue | $4.3B | $3.2B |
| Free cash flow | $931M | $540M |
| Net income | $850M | $643M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −0.7% | 7.0% |
| 5-year growth | 6.0% | 6.0% |
| Share count change | −1.9% | 0.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 66.1% | 59.3% |
| Operating margin | 18.6% | 25.4% |
| Net margin | 19.6% | 20.3% |
| FCF margin | 21.4% | 17.1% |
| Return on capital | 20.3% | 21.0% |
| Return on equity | 33.4% | 29.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $356M | $822M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.3x | 0.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $742M | $14.7M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 50.3x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 6 |
FY16
ILMN $2.4B
WAT $2.2B
FY17
ILMN $2.8B
WAT $2.3B
FY18
ILMN $3.3B
WAT $2.4B
FY19
ILMN $3.5B
WAT $2.4B
FY20
ILMN $3.2B
WAT $2.4B
FY21
ILMN $4.5B
WAT $2.8B
FY22
ILMN $4.6B
WAT $3.0B
FY23
ILMN $4.5B
WAT $3.0B
FY24
ILMN $4.4B
WAT $3.0B
FY25
ILMN $4.3B
WAT $3.2B
ILMN
WAT
FY16
ILMN 24.5%
WAT 28.8%
FY17
ILMN 22.0%
WAT 28.7%
FY18
ILMN 26.5%
WAT 30.6%
FY19
ILMN 27.8%
WAT 29.4%
FY20
ILMN 17.9%
WAT 27.3%
FY21
ILMN −2.7%
WAT 29.5%
FY22
ILMN −91.2%
WAT 29.4%
FY23
ILMN −23.7%
WAT 27.7%
FY24
ILMN −19.1%
WAT 27.9%
FY25
ILMN 18.6%
WAT 25.4%
ILMN
WAT
FY16
ILMN $519M
WAT $610M
FY17
ILMN $565M
WAT $663M
FY18
ILMN $846M
WAT $570M
FY19
ILMN $842M
WAT $603M
FY20
ILMN $891M
WAT $738M
FY21
ILMN $337M
WAT $711M
FY22
ILMN $106M
WAT $566M
FY23
ILMN $283M
WAT $442M
FY24
ILMN $709M
WAT $620M
FY25
ILMN $931M
WAT $540M
ILMN
WAT
FY16
ILMN 26.9%
WAT 43.9%
FY17
ILMN 21.4%
WAT 30.7%
FY18
ILMN 34.3%
WAT 70.7%
FY19
ILMN 35.3%
WAT 58.5%
FY20
ILMN 18.7%
WAT 48.3%
FY21
ILMN −1.7%
WAT 55.3%
FY22
ILMN −39.7%
WAT 49.0%
FY23
ILMN −13.3%
WAT 30.2%
FY24
ILMN −14.1%
WAT 22.4%
FY25
ILMN 20.3%
WAT 21.0%
ILMN
WAT
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.