Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Issues FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 5.300-5.400 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 5.230. The company issued revenue guidance of $4.6 billion-$4.6 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $4.6 billion.

Illumina Price Performance

NASDAQ:ILMN traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $205.04. The stock had a trading volume of 3,444,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,896,964. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Illumina has a one year low of $88.00 and a one year high of $205.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.47.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The life sciences company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.08. Illumina had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 31.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.300-5.400 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Illumina will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Illumina from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Illumina from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Illumina in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Illumina from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Illumina from $200.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.47.

Insider Transactions at Illumina

In related news, SVP Patricia Leckman sold 783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.59, for a total value of $127,307.97. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 21,259 shares in the company, valued at $3,456,500.81. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Christensen Jakob Wedel sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.04, for a total value of $97,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,386.24. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,003,769 shares of company stock worth $155,710,908. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Illumina

Here are the key news stories impacting Illumina this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised price targets: JPMorgan lifted its target from $220 to $230 and maintained an “overweight” rating. Stifel raised its target from $155 to $225 and upgraded the stock to “buy,” while TD Cowen increased its target from $192 to $210 but kept a “hold” rating. Benzinga analyst price-target updates
• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter results exceeded expectations: Revenue rose about 9.5% year over year to $1.16 billion, ahead of the $1.13 billion consensus estimate, while non-GAAP EPS of $1.31 topped expectations of $1.23 and increased from $1.19 a year earlier. Clinical demand and continued NovaSeq X placements supported growth. Illumina second-quarter financial results
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year outlook improved: Illumina raised 2026 revenue guidance to approximately $4.60 billion-$4.64 billion and non-GAAP EPS guidance to $5.30-$5.40, above the prior consensus EPS estimate of $5.23. Eli Lilly also joined Illumina’s Billion Cell Atlas alliance, potentially strengthening the company’s longer-term pharmaceutical and drug-discovery opportunity. Eli Lilly joins Illumina’s Billion Cell Atlas
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning was mixed: In the latest reported quarter, 375 institutions added ILMN shares while 402 reduced positions. Large purchases by WCM Investment Management, AllianceBernstein, Jupiter Asset Management and BlackRock were offset by sizable sales from Capital World Investors and Loomis Sayles.
• Negative Sentiment: China and profitability remain concerns: Greater China revenue declined 12%, full-year operating-margin guidance remained unchanged at 23.4%-23.6%, and management indicated that NovaSeq X placement growth may moderate in the second half. These issues appear to have prompted a sell-the-news reaction despite the earnings beat. Illumina China weakness and margin outlook analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds a cautionary signal: Insiders recorded 41 open-market sales versus only one purchase over the past six months, including substantial selling by Keith Meister. This may weigh on sentiment, although insider transactions do not necessarily reflect the company’s operating outlook.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illumina

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Illumina in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Illumina by 975.6% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 441 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Illumina by 93.1% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 556 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Illumina in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $102,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Illumina in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $165,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.42% of the company’s stock.

About Illumina

Illumina, Inc (NASDAQ: ILMN) is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and markets integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and function. Headquartered in San Diego, California and founded in 1998, Illumina offers a range of sequencing and array-based technologies used by academic researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, consumer genomics firms and agricultural researchers to enable discovery, translational research and clinical applications.

The company’s product portfolio includes next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms and associated consumables, microarrays for genotyping and methylation analysis, library preparation kits and targeted assays.