Cognex Corporation (CGNX) vs MKS Inc. (MKSI)

Cognex Corporation and MKS Inc. are both Scientific & Technical Instruments companies. MKS Inc. is the larger, with a market value of $17.7B against $9.8B — 1.8× the size. MKS Inc. trades at the lower P/E: 39.9× against 55.9×. Cognex Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 17.2% against 16.3%. Cognex Corporation has the higher net margin (16.1% vs 10.1%) and the higher return on invested capital (12.2% vs 6.74%). Both pay a dividend; Cognex Corporation yields more (0.82% vs 0.77%). Across the 23 metrics below, Cognex Corporation leads on 13 and MKS Inc. on 10.

Valuation

Metric CGNX MKSI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
P/E 55.87 39.94 35.93
P/S 9.01 4.06 4.46
P/B 6.02 5.90 3.00
Price to free cash flow 37.11 38.50 24.96
EV/EBITDA 35.29 20.04 19.60
EV/Sales 8.64 4.82 4.98
Earnings yield 1.79% 2.50% 0.53%
Free cash flow yield 2.69% 2.60% 1.12%

Profitability

Metric CGNX MKSI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Gross margin 68.87% 46.96% 45.75%
Operating margin 21.90% 15.69% 7.34%
Net margin 16.05% 10.12% 1.56%
Free cash flow margin 25.25% 10.53% 5.84%
Return on equity 11.15% 15.88% 2.87%
Return on assets 8.36% 4.95% 0.99%
Return on invested capital 12.16% 6.74% 3.88%

Growth

Metric CGNX MKSI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Revenue growth (TTM) 17.15% 16.26% 11.28%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 9.68% 55.52% —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 4.16% 11.03% 7.89%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR (8.27%) (3.36%) 0.00%

Health

Metric CGNX MKSI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Debt to equity 0.00 1.32 0.00
Current ratio 3.93 1.14 2.24
Net debt to EBITDA (1.75) 3.93 0.44

Dividend

Metric CGNX MKSI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Dividend yield 0.82% 0.77% 0.72%
Payout ratio 0.28 0.12 0.00

Size

Metric CGNX MKSI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Market cap 9.82b 17.71b 483.67m

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