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GILD vs. ILMN: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks are likely familiar with Gilead Sciences (GILD - Free Report) and Illumina (ILMN - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Gilead Sciences has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Illumina has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that GILD is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

GILD currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.42, while ILMN has a forward P/E of 49.48. We also note that GILD has a PEG ratio of 3.37. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. ILMN currently has a PEG ratio of 4.50.

Another notable valuation metric for GILD is its P/B ratio of 4.49. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, ILMN has a P/B of 9.84.

Based on these metrics and many more, GILD holds a Value grade of B, while ILMN has a Value grade of D.

GILD has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than ILMN, so it seems like value investors will conclude that GILD is the superior option right now.


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Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) - free report >>

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