Sifting through countless of stocks in the Biotechnology industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. or Qiagen N.V. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.
Read on to learn how Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Qiagen N.V. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.
About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Qiagen N.V.
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for gastrointestinal (GI) and rare diseases in the United States and internationally. It sells linaclotide, a guanylate cyclase type-C (GC-C) agonist for the treatment of adults suffering from irritable bowel syndrome with constipation or chronic idiopathic constipation, as well as for pediatric patients suffering from functional constipation under the LINZESS and CONSTELLA names. The company is also developing IW-3300, a GC-C agonist for the treatment of visceral pain conditions, including interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome and endometriosis; and Apraglutide, a synthetic peptide long-acting analog of glucagon-like peptide-2 for short bowel syndrome patients dependent on parenteral support, as well as for acute graft versus host disease. It has strategic partnerships with AbbVie Inc., AstraZeneca AB, and Astellas Pharma Inc. for the development and commercialization of linaclotide. The company was formerly known as Microbia, Inc. and changed its name to Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in April 2008. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Qiagen N.V. provides sample to insight solutions that transform biological samples into molecular insights worldwide. The company offers sample technology consumables, such as nucleic acid stabilization and purification kits for sample materials, manual and automated processing for genotyping, gene expression, and viral and bacterial analysis, as well as silica membranes and magnetic bead technologies; secondary sample technology consumables, including kits and components for purification of nucleic acids; and instruments for nucleic acid purification, quality control, and accessories. It also provides Immune response consumables, such as interferon-gamma release assay for TB testing, and assays for post-transplant testing and viral load monitoring; oncology and sexual and reproductive health consumables, inclsuing assays for prenatal testing and detection of sexually transmitted diseases and HPV; assays for analysis of genomic variants; and sample to insight instruments, including one-step molecular analysis of hard-to-diagnose syndromes, and integrated PCR testing. The company offers research PCR consumables, such as quantitative PCR, reverse transcription, and combinations kits for analysis of gene expression, genotyping and gene regulation, and running on QIAGEN instruments and technologies; human ID/forensics assay consumables comprising short tandem repeat assays for human ID, and assays for food contamination; PCR instruments, including digital PCR and qPCR solutions; and developed and configured enzymes and PCR solutions. It offers NGS gene panels, library prep kits and components, and whole genome amplification; DNA methylation analysis; QIAGEN consumables and instruments; bioinformatics solutions; and sequence-based assays forensic genetic genealog services. it provides software-as-a-service. It serves molecular diagnostics and life sciences sectors. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Venlo, the Netherlands.
Latest Biotechnology and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Qiagen N.V. Stock News
As of July 31, 2026, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. had a $696.3 million market capitalization, compared to the Biotechnology median of $252.6 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s stock is up 25.5% in 2026, up 14% in the previous five trading days and up 407.74% in the past year.
Currently, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 6.9. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $361.5 million with a 28.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 159.1%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.090 per share for the current fiscal year. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.
As of July 31, 2026, Qiagen N.V. had a $8.6 billion market cap, putting it in the 75th percentile of all stocks. Qiagen N.V.’s stock is down 12.5% in 2026, up 0.1% in the previous five trading days and down 22.23% in the past year.
Currently, Qiagen N.V.’s price-earnings ratio is 21.3. Qiagen N.V.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.1 billion with a 19.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 1.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.440 per share for the current fiscal year. Qiagen N.V. currently has a 5.8% dividend yield.
How We Compare Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Qiagen N.V. Stock Grades
Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.
AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Qiagen N.V.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.
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Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Qiagen N.V. Growth Grades
| Company | Ticker | Growth |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | IRWD | D |
| Qiagen N.V. | QGEN | C |
The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.
In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.
The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a Growth Score of 25, which is Weak.
Qiagen N.V. has a Growth Score of 56, which is Average.
The Growth Stock Winner: No Clear Winner
Neither Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. or Qiagen N.V. has a high enough Growth Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. or Qiagen N.V. is the better investment when it comes to sustainable growth.
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Qiagen N.V.’s Quality Grades
| Company | Ticker | Quality |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | IRWD | A |
| Qiagen N.V. | QGEN | B |
Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.
The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.
The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.
Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a Quality Score of 86, which is Very Strong.
Qiagen N.V. has a Quality Score of 80, which is Strong.
The Quality Grade Winner: Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a better overall quality grade than Qiagen N.V.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Qiagen N.V.’s Momentum Grades
| Company | Ticker | Momentum |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | IRWD | A |
| Qiagen N.V. | QGEN | C |
Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.
Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 99, which is Very Strong.
Qiagen N.V. has a Momentum Score of 45, which is Average.
The Momentum Grade Winner: Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Qiagen N.V.. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.
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Other Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Qiagen N.V. Grades
In addition to Momentum, Quality and Growth, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Estimate Revisions.
Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).
Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.
These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Qiagen N.V. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.
So, Which Is the Better Investment, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. or Qiagen N.V. Stock?
Overall, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 25, Momentum Score of 99 and Quality Score of 86.
Qiagen N.V. stock has a Growth Score of 56, Momentum Score of 45 and Quality Score of 80.
Comparing Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Qiagen N.V.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.
Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.
A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.
AAII Disclaimer
We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.
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