Illumina Stock May Benefit From New Agreement to Acquire SomaLogic

Illumina, Inc. ILMN recently entered into a definitive agreement with Standard BioTools LAB to acquire SomaLogic, a leader in data-driven proteomics technology, and other specified assets. The transaction is valued at $350 million in cash payable at closing, subject to customary adjustments, with additional payments of up to $75 million in near-term performance-based milestones and performance-based royalties.

The acquisition is set to enhance Illumina's presence in the expanding proteomics market and advance the highly ambitious multiomics strategy announced last year. The company plans to close the deal in the first half of 2026.

ILMN Stock’s Likely Trend Following the News

Since the June 23 announcement, ILMN shares jumped 2.9% to close at $93.23 yesterday. Illumina Protein Prep is already being used by nearly 40 early-access customers globally and will become broadly available starting in the third quarter of 2025. Combining SomaLogic's proteomics technology with its scalable NGS ecosystem, DRAGEN software and Illumina Connected Multiomics will speed up the technology development roadmap for proteomics and reduce the time and cost of proteomic research. Accordingly, the market sentiment surrounding ILMN stock is expected to remain positive, driven by this news.

Illumina presently has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion. The company’s earnings yield of 4.6% sits comfortably against the industry’s -27.7% yield. It delivered an earnings beat of 56.4%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.

Importance of ILMN’s New Acquisition

The latest transaction builds on a co-development agreement formed in December 2021, where Illumina and SomaLogic agreed to bring in the SomaScan Proteomics Assay on ILMN’s high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms. Over the past year, scientific evidence presented has highlighted the strength of SomaLogic's proteomics offerings in the areas of plexity, scalability and technical reproducibility. Researchers can also generate significant and impactful insights with high sensitivity, high throughput and thousands of protein markers in a single experiment.

SomaLogic has approximately 250 employees worldwide working in commercial, research and development (R&D), lab operations, manufacturing and other roles. The company's Boulder, CO, facilities — including a CLIA- and CAP-certified lab, office and manufacturing space — will be included in the purchase.

Further, Illumina will add SomaLogic's aptamer-based affinity proteomics platform to its portfolio. The kitted NGS-based panel business will add a high-margin consumable revenue stream. Assuming the deal closes as planned, Illumina expects this business to become profitable in 2027 on a non-GAAP operating income basis and for non-GAAP operating margins to align with Illumina in 2028.

Industry Prospects Favor ILMN

According to a Research report, the global proteomics market is estimated to be worth  $41.65 billion in 2025 and expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.9% by 2034. The growth of the market is likely to be fueled by ongoing R&D in the field and the use of high-quality tools for research purposes. Further, the growing need for personalized medicines, and constant collaborations and partnerships are also likely to drive the market expansion.

More Updates From Illumina

In May, the company unveiled a new AI algorithm that accurately deciphers pathogenic regulatory genetic variants in the noncoding regions of the human genome. Built on state-of-the-art deep learning neural networks, PromoterAI turns data into insights, helping researchers accelerate new breakthroughs in the diagnosis of rare diseases.

ILMN Stock Price Performance

In the past month, ILMN shares have risen 14% compared with the industry’s 2.5% growth.

Illumina’s Zacks Rank and Key Picks

Illumina currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Phibro Animal Health PAHC and Hims & Hers Health HIMS. While Phibro Animal Health sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, Hims & Hers Health carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Estimates for Phibro Animal Health’s fiscal 2025 earnings per share have jumped 5.2% to $2.04 in the past 30 days. Shares of the company have rallied 43.8% in the past year compared with the industry’s 12.1% growth. Its earnings yield of 8.2% compares comfortably with the industry’s 0.9% yield. PAHC’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 30.6%.

Hims & Hers Health shares have surged 108.8% in the past year. Estimates for the company’s 2025 earnings per share have jumped 17.7% to 73 cents in the past 30 days. HIMS’ earnings beat estimates twice in the trailing four quarters, matched in one and missed on another occasion, the average surprise being 19.6%. In the last reported quarter, it posted an earnings surprise of 66.7%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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