Sectors & IndustriesHealthcareDiagnostics & Research

Best Diagnostic & Research Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top diagnostic & research stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best diagnostic & research stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best diagnostic & research stocks to buy right now are:

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) is the #1 top diagnostic & research stock out of 55 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) has a Due Diligence Score of 37, which is 9 points higher than the diagnostic & research industry average of 28.

ILMN passed 12 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Illumina has seen its stock return 55.36% over the past year, overperforming other diagnostic & research stocks by 46 percentage points.

Illumina has an average 1 year price target of $138.60, an upside of 12.45% from Illumina's current stock price of $123.26.

Illumina stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 10 analysts covering Illumina, 30% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 10% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 10% have issued a Strong Sell.

Sotera Health Co (NASDAQ:SHC) is the #2 top diagnostic & research stock out of 55 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Sotera Health Co (NASDAQ:SHC) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Sotera Health Co (NASDAQ:SHC) has a Due Diligence Score of 33, which is 5 points higher than the diagnostic & research industry average of 28.

SHC passed 11 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Sotera Health Co has seen its stock return 22.98% over the past year, overperforming other diagnostic & research stocks by 14 percentage points.

Sotera Health Co has an average 1 year price target of $21.40, an upside of 49.23% from Sotera Health Co's current stock price of $14.34.

Sotera Health Co stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering Sotera Health Co, 60% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 20% have issued a Buy, 20% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Idexx Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX) is the #3 top diagnostic & research stock out of 55 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Idexx Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: B.

Idexx Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX) has a Due Diligence Score of 53, which is 25 points higher than the diagnostic & research industry average of 28.

IDXX passed 18 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Idexx Laboratories has seen its stock return 33.8% over the past year, overperforming other diagnostic & research stocks by 25 percentage points.

Idexx Laboratories has an average 1 year price target of $762.14, an upside of 35.64% from Idexx Laboratories's current stock price of $561.89.

Idexx Laboratories stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 7 analysts covering Idexx Laboratories, 71.43% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 28.57% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 6 diagnostic & research stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 diagnostic & research stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) has an annual dividend yield of 1.63%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the diagnostic & research industry average of 0.83%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Quest Diagnostics's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio of 36.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Labcorp Holdings (NYSE:LH) has an annual dividend yield of 1.08%, which is the same as the diagnostic & research industry average of 0.83%. Labcorp Holdings's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Labcorp Holdings's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Labcorp Holdings's dividend payout ratio of 27.3% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) has an annual dividend yield of 0.88%, which is the same as the diagnostic & research industry average of 0.83%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Agilent Technologies's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio of 22% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Diagnostic & research stocks were up 2.65% in the last day, and up 0.66% over the last week. Natera was the among the top gainers in the diagnostics & research industry, gaining 7.04% yesterday.

Natera shares are trading higher after the company announced a Clinical Cancer Research article showing that Signatera was able to identify older women with early-stage ER+/HER2- breast cancer who can be managed with primary endocrine therapy without surgery.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued diagnostic & research stocks right now are:

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) is the most undervalued diagnostic & research stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Icon has a valuation score of 100, which is 84 points higher than the diagnostic & research industry average of 16. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Icon's stock has dropped -36.76% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the diagnostic & research industry by -46 percentage points.

Qiagen Nv (NYSE:QGEN) is the second most undervalued diagnostic & research stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Qiagen Nv has a valuation score of 43, which is 27 points higher than the diagnostic & research industry average of 16. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Qiagen Nv's stock has dropped -0.27% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the diagnostic & research industry by -9 percentage points.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) is the third most undervalued diagnostic & research stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Agilent Technologies has a valuation score of 14, which is -2 points higher than the diagnostic & research industry average of 16. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates A a Valuation Rating of "B".

Agilent Technologies's stock has dropped -2.56% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the diagnostic & research industry by -12 percentage points.

53.49% of diagnostic & research stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect diagnostic & research stocks to rise by 27.71% over the next year.

2.44% of diagnostic & research stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 39.02% of diagnostic & research stocks are rated B (Buy), 46.34% are rated C (Hold), 12.2% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).