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 $15.5B against $9.4B — 1.6× the size. MKS Inc. trades at the lower P/E: 32.9× against 51.5×. 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 (0.63% vs 0.45%). Across the 23 metrics below, MKS Inc. leads on 12 and Cognex Corporation on 11.

Valuation

Metric CGNX MKSI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
P/E 51.53 32.90 33.25
P/S 8.32 3.34 4.50
P/B 5.56 4.86 2.90
Price to free cash flow 34.23 31.71 24.81
EV/EBITDA 32.44 17.07 17.92
EV/Sales 7.94 4.11 4.71
Earnings yield 1.94% 3.04% 0.60%
Free cash flow yield 2.92% 3.15% 1.27%

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% 11.15%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 9.68% 55.52% 11.47%
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 0.63% 0.45% 0.58%
Payout ratio 0.33 0.15 0.36

Size

Metric CGNX MKSI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Market cap 9.37b 15.45b 444.25m

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