Which Is a Better Investment, Edwards Lifesciences Corp or Illumina, Inc. Stock?

By Jenna Brashear
September 10, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies 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 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina or Inc. 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 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina and Inc.

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies to treat advanced cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, Japan, and internationally. It offers transcatheter heart valve replacement products for minimally invasive replacement of aortic heart valves under the Edwards SAPIEN family of valves system; and transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement products to treat mitral and tricuspid valve diseases under the PASCAL and EVOQUE brands. The company also provides surgical structural heart solutions, such as aortic surgical valve under the INSPIRIS brand name; INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve, which offers RESILIA tissue and VFit technology; KONECT RESILIA, a pre-assembled tissue valve conduit for complex combined procedures; and MITRIS RESILIA valve. It distributes its products through a direct sales force and independent distributors. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

Illumina, Inc. provides sequencing- and array-based solutions for genetic and genomic analysis in the Americas, Europe, Greater China, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers sequencing- and array-based instruments and consumables, which include reagents, flow cells, and library preparation; whole-genome sequencing kits, which sequence entire genomes of various size and complexity; and targeted resequencing kits, which sequence exomes, specific genes, and RNA or other genomic regions of interest. It also provides whole-genome sequencing, genotyping, noninvasive prenatal testing, and product support services. The company serves genomic research centers, academic institutions, government laboratories, and hospitals, as well as pharmaceutical, biotechnology, commercial molecular diagnostic laboratories, and consumer genomics companies. The company markets and distributes its products directly to customers, as well as through life-science distributors. The company has a collaboration with Labcorp Holdings Inc. for the development of oncology treatments through applications of sequencing solutions across the healthcare ecosystem; and strategic collaboration with Integrated DNA Technologies to enable a DRAGEN, secondary analysis pipeline for IDT xGena, FFPE and cfDNA next generation sequencing (NGS) library preparation with custom panels, delivering an integrated, end-to-end solution for somatic oncology research. It also has a data partnership with Center for Data-Driven Discovery in Biomedicine to advance research in pediatric cancer and rare disease. Illumina, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Latest Health Care Equipment & Supplies and Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina, Inc. Stock News

As of September 9, 2026, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation had a $49.7 billion market capitalization, compared to the Health Care Equipment & Supplies median of $408.9 million. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation’s stock is up 1.5% in 2026, down 4.7% in the previous five trading days and up 7.44% in the past year.

Currently, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 51.4. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $6.5 billion with a 15.4% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 13.6%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.999 per share for the current fiscal year. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation does not currently pay a dividend.

As of September 9, 2026, Illumina, Inc. had a $31.0 billion market cap, putting it in the 90th percentile of all stocks. Illumina, Inc.’s stock is up 54.9% in 2026, down 4.7% in the previous five trading days and up 108.8% in the past year.

Currently, Illumina, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 38.2. Illumina, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.5 billion with a 18.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 9.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.355 per share for the current fiscal year. Illumina, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina and Inc. 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 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina and Inc. Growth Grades

Company Ticker Growth
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation EW A
Illumina, Inc. ILMN B

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.

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a Growth Score of 95, which is Very Strong. Illumina, Inc. has a Growth Score of 61, which is Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Edwards Lifesciences Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a more attractive growth grade than Illumina, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation EW C
Illumina, Inc. ILMN A

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%.

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a Momentum Score of 46, which is Average. Illumina, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 90, which is Very Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: Illumina, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Illumina, Inc. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Edwards Lifesciences Corporation. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Illumina, 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.

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company Ticker Earnings Estimate
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation EW C
Illumina, Inc. ILMN B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 58, which is Neutral. Illumina, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 66, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Illumina, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Illumina, Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Edwards Lifesciences Corporation. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Illumina, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

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Other Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina and Inc. Grades

In addition to Growth, Momentum and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Quality.

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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.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite 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 F-Score.

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 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation stock has a Growth Score of 95, Momentum Score of 46 and Estimate Revisions Score of 58.

Illumina, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 61, Momentum Score of 90 and Estimate Revisions Score of 66.

Comparing Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Illumina and Inc.’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.

Learn More About A+ Investor

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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