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Side-by-side financial comparison of ILLUMINA, INC. (ILMN) and Waters Corporation (WAT). Click either name above to swap in a different company.

ILLUMINA, INC. is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($1.1B vs $932.4M, roughly 1.2× Waters Corporation). Waters Corporation runs the higher net margin — 24.2% vs 16.8%, a 7.3% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, Waters Corporation posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (6.8% vs -1.6%). Over the past eight quarters, Waters Corporation's revenue compounded faster (21.0% CAGR vs 0.8%).

Illumina, Inc. is an American biotechnology company, headquartered in San Diego, California. Incorporated on April 1, 1998, Illumina develops, manufactures, and markets integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and biological function. The company provides a line of products and services that serves the sequencing, genotyping and gene expression, and proteomics markets, and serves more than 155 countries.

Waters Corporation is an American company headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts that provides analytical instruments and software used for chromatography, mass spectrometry, laboratory informatics, and rheometry by the life sciences, materials, and food industries.

ILMN vs WAT — Head-to-Head

Bigger by revenue
ILMN
ILMN
1.2× larger
ILMN
$1.1B
$932.4M
WAT
Growing faster (revenue YoY)
WAT
WAT
+8.4% gap
WAT
6.8%
-1.6%
ILMN
Higher net margin
WAT
WAT
7.3% more per $
WAT
24.2%
16.8%
ILMN
Faster 2-yr revenue CAGR
WAT
WAT
Annualised
WAT
21.0%
0.8%
ILMN

Income Statement — Q4 2025 vs Q4 2025

Metric
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Revenue
$1.1B
$932.4M
Net Profit
$186.0M
$225.2M
Gross Margin
65.9%
61.1%
Operating Margin
15.8%
29.0%
Net Margin
16.8%
24.2%
Revenue YoY
-1.6%
6.8%
Net Profit YoY
205.7%
-2.7%
EPS (diluted)
$1.16
$3.76

Green = leading value per metric. Periods may differ when fiscal calendars don't align.

8-Quarter Revenue & Profit Trend

Side-by-side quarterly history. Quarters aligned by calendar period so offset fiscal years line up.

Revenue
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
$932.4M
Q3 25
$799.9M
Q2 25
$771.3M
Q1 25
$661.7M
Q4 24
$1.1B
$872.7M
Q3 24
$1.1B
$740.3M
Q2 24
$1.1B
$708.5M
Q1 24
$1.1B
$636.8M
Net Profit
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
$225.2M
Q3 25
$148.9M
Q2 25
$147.1M
Q1 25
$121.4M
Q4 24
$186.0M
$231.4M
Q3 24
$705.0M
$161.5M
Q2 24
$-2.0B
$142.7M
Q1 24
$-126.0M
$102.2M
Gross Margin
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
61.1%
Q3 25
59.0%
Q2 25
58.3%
Q1 25
58.2%
Q4 24
65.9%
60.1%
Q3 24
69.0%
59.3%
Q2 24
64.8%
59.3%
Q1 24
62.0%
58.9%
Operating Margin
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
29.0%
Q3 25
24.0%
Q2 25
24.4%
Q1 25
22.9%
Q4 24
15.8%
33.5%
Q3 24
68.6%
28.5%
Q2 24
-147.2%
26.7%
Q1 24
-10.3%
21.0%
Net Margin
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
24.2%
Q3 25
18.6%
Q2 25
19.1%
Q1 25
18.3%
Q4 24
16.8%
26.5%
Q3 24
65.3%
21.8%
Q2 24
-178.8%
20.1%
Q1 24
-11.7%
16.0%
EPS (diluted)
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
$3.76
Q3 25
$2.50
Q2 25
$2.47
Q1 25
$2.03
Q4 24
$1.16
$3.88
Q3 24
$4.42
$2.71
Q2 24
$-12.48
$2.40
Q1 24
$-0.79
$1.72

Balance Sheet & Financial Strength

Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.

Metric
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand
$93.0M
$587.8M
Total DebtLower is stronger
$1.4B
Stockholders' EquityBook value
$2.4B
$2.6B
Total Assets
$6.3B
$5.1B
Debt / EquityLower = less leverage
0.55×

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Cash + ST Investments
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
$587.8M
Q3 25
$459.1M
Q2 25
$367.2M
Q1 25
$382.9M
Q4 24
$93.0M
$325.4M
Q3 24
$70.0M
$331.5M
Q2 24
$74.0M
$327.4M
Q1 24
$338.2M
Total Debt
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
$1.4B
Q3 25
Q2 25
Q1 25
Q4 24
$1.6B
Q3 24
Q2 24
Q1 24
Stockholders' Equity
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
$2.6B
Q3 25
$2.3B
Q2 25
$2.2B
Q1 25
$2.0B
Q4 24
$2.4B
$1.8B
Q3 24
$2.1B
$1.6B
Q2 24
$1.4B
$1.4B
Q1 24
$5.7B
$1.3B
Total Assets
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
$5.1B
Q3 25
$4.9B
Q2 25
$4.7B
Q1 25
$4.6B
Q4 24
$6.3B
$4.6B
Q3 24
$6.0B
$4.5B
Q2 24
$6.1B
$4.4B
Q1 24
$10.0B
$4.5B
Debt / Equity
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
0.55×
Q3 25
Q2 25
Q1 25
Q4 24
0.89×
Q3 24
Q2 24
Q1 24

Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency

How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Cash flow is harder to manipulate than net income.

Metric
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Operating Cash FlowLast quarter
$364.0M
$164.6M
Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex
$335.0M
FCF MarginFCF / Revenue
30.3%
Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue
2.6%
Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit
1.96×
0.73×
TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters
$709.0M

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Operating Cash Flow
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
$164.6M
Q3 25
$187.3M
Q2 25
$41.1M
Q1 25
$259.6M
Q4 24
$364.0M
$240.1M
Q3 24
$316.0M
$204.6M
Q2 24
$80.0M
$54.5M
Q1 24
$77.0M
$262.9M
Free Cash Flow
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
Q3 25
Q2 25
Q1 25
Q4 24
$335.0M
Q3 24
$284.0M
Q2 24
$49.0M
Q1 24
$41.0M
FCF Margin
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
Q3 25
Q2 25
Q1 25
Q4 24
30.3%
Q3 24
26.3%
Q2 24
4.4%
Q1 24
3.8%
Capex Intensity
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
Q3 25
Q2 25
Q1 25
Q4 24
2.6%
Q3 24
3.0%
Q2 24
2.8%
Q1 24
3.3%
Cash Conversion
ILMN
ILMN
WAT
WAT
Q4 25
0.73×
Q3 25
1.26×
Q2 25
0.28×
Q1 25
2.14×
Q4 24
1.96×
1.04×
Q3 24
0.45×
1.27×
Q2 24
0.38×
Q1 24
2.57×

Financial Flow Comparison

Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.

Revenue Breakdown by Segment

ILMN
ILMN

Sequencing$1.0B91%
Microarray$101.0M9%
Investee$7.0M1%

WAT
WAT

Segment breakdown not available.

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