ILMN vs. RPRX: Illumina vs. Royalty Pharma Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Illumina (ILMN) and Royalty Pharma (RPRX) both fall under the Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences industry group, but ILMN is classified in Life Sciences Tools & Services while RPRX is classified in Pharmaceuticals.

Illumina (ILMN) has more than two decades of public-market history since July 28, 2000, whereas Royalty Pharma (RPRX) listed on June 16, 2020 and has a much shorter record to draw on.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Illumina (ILMN) has an aggressive beta of 1.46, indicating higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while Royalty Pharma (RPRX) is defensive at 0.36 and tends to be less market-sensitive — they sit on opposite ends of the beta spectrum.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Both Illumina (ILMN) at 32.39% and Royalty Pharma (RPRX) at 12.09% sit in the top peer quartile for ROE, suggesting each generates more profit from shareholders’ equity than typical industry peers.

Both Illumina (ILMN) at 19.72% and Royalty Pharma (RPRX) at 25.70% keep an unusually large share of revenue as bottom-line profit — each net margin clears its industry’s benchmark range.

Both Illumina (ILMN) at 20.02% and Royalty Pharma (RPRX) at 81.32% convert sales into operating profit at a top-quartile rate, pointing to tighter cost discipline before financing and tax.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Royalty Pharma (RPRX) at 5.06% is around its peer norm for revenue growth, while Illumina (ILMN) at -0.66% drops into the bottom quartile, signaling weaker demand or pricing momentum.

Only one side can be read here: Royalty Pharma (RPRX) reports EPS growth of 23.09%, ranked against its industry; Illumina (ILMN) has no EPS growth figure this period.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Illumina (ILMN) at 2.63 keeps current ratio within its industry’s typical mid-range, while Royalty Pharma (RPRX) at 1.29 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — a thinner cushion against current liabilities for RPRX.

Both Illumina (ILMN) at 0.74 and Royalty Pharma (RPRX) at 0.88 lean more heavily on debt funding than most peers, landing in the higher-leverage quartile of their industries.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Illumina (ILMN) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Royalty Pharma (RPRX) reports a yield of 1.37%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Illumina (ILMN) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Royalty Pharma (RPRX) reports a payout of 60.46%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Illumina (ILMN) at 36.68 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Royalty Pharma (RPRX) at 43.99 sits in the richer quartile — RPRX needs stronger growth or earnings quality to justify the premium.

On P/S ratio, both Illumina (ILMN) at 7.10 and Royalty Pharma (RPRX) at 14.79 are priced roughly in line with their industries — neither looks cheap nor rich on a sales basis.

Royalty Pharma (RPRX) at 4.39 is valued about in line with its industry on P/B ratio, while Illumina (ILMN) at 10.30 carries an above-peer premium to book — ILMN is pricier on assets.

Valuation Metrics