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 Alkermes plc 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 Alkermes plc and Qiagen N.V. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Alkermes plc and Qiagen N.V.

Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products to address unmet medical needs of patients in therapeutic areas in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. The company has a portfolio of proprietary commercial products for the treatment of opioid dependence, alcohol dependence, schizophrenia, bipolar I, and a pipeline of clinical and preclinical product candidates in development for neurological disorders. Its marketed products include ARISTADA, an intramuscular injectable suspension for the treatment of schizophrenia; ARISTADA INITIO for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults; VIVITROL for the treatment of alcohol and prevention of opioid dependence; LYBALVI, an oral atypical antipsychotic drug candidate for the treatment of adults with schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder; and LUMRYZ, an extended-release oral suspension product for the treatment of cataplexy or EDS in pediatric patients. The company also offers proprietary technology platforms to third parties to enable them to develop, commercialize, and manufacture products. It has collaboration agreements primarily with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc, and Janssen Pharmaceutica International. Alkermes plc was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

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 Alkermes plc, Qiagen N.V. Stock News

As of September 1, 2026, Alkermes plc had a $7.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Biotechnology median of $282.5 million. Alkermes plc’s stock is up 68.9% in 2026, down 3.9% in the previous five trading days and up 62.93% in the past year.

Currently, Alkermes plc’s price-earnings ratio is 121.6. Alkermes plc’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.7 billion with a 4.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 27.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.275 per share for the current fiscal year. Alkermes plc does not currently pay a dividend.

As of September 1, 2026, Qiagen N.V. had a $9.0 billion market cap, putting it in the 76th percentile of all stocks. Qiagen N.V.’s stock is down 7% in 2026, up 1.6% in the previous five trading days and down 11.35% in the past year.

Currently, Qiagen N.V.’s price-earnings ratio is 22.1. Qiagen N.V.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.1 billion with a 19.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 0.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.434 per share for the current fiscal year. Qiagen N.V. currently has a 6.4% dividend yield.

How We Compare Alkermes plc 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 Alkermes plc and Qiagen N.V.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Alkermes plc and Qiagen N.V. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Alkermes plc	ALKS	F
Qiagen N.V.	QGEN	D

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 Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Alkermes plc has a Value Score of 10, which is Ultra Expensive. Qiagen N.V. has a Value Score of 37, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Alkermes plc or Qiagen N.V. has a high enough value 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 portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Alkermes plc or Qiagen N.V. is the better investment when it comes to value.

Alkermes plc and Qiagen N.V.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Alkermes plc	ALKS	B
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%.

Alkermes plc has a Momentum Score of 79, which is Strong. Qiagen N.V. has a Momentum Score of 47, which is Average.

The Momentum Grade Winner: Alkermes plc

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Alkermes plc 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, Alkermes plc 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.

Alkermes plc and Qiagen N.V.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Alkermes plc	ALKS	D
Qiagen N.V.	QGEN	C

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.

Alkermes plc has a Earnings Estimate Score of 34, which is Negative. Qiagen N.V. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 51, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Alkermes plc or Qiagen N.V. has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors 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 Alkermes plc or Qiagen N.V. is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other Alkermes plc and Qiagen N.V. Grades

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

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

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 Alkermes plc 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, Alkermes plc or Qiagen N.V. Stock?

Overall, Alkermes plc stock has a Value Score of 10, Momentum Score of 79 and Estimate Revisions Score of 34.

Qiagen N.V. stock has a Value Score of 37, Momentum Score of 47 and Estimate Revisions Score of 51.

Comparing Alkermes plc 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.