Advanced Energy vs MKS Instruments
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Advanced Energy and MKS Instruments side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- MKS Instruments is the larger business, with $3.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.8B for Advanced Energy, about 2.2 times as much.
- Advanced Energy grew revenue faster (21.4%, against 9.6%).
- MKS Instruments kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (13.4% operating margin, against 9.3%).
- MKS Instruments turned more of its sales into free cash flow (12.6% FCF margin, against 7.0%).
- Advanced Energy earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (13.6%, against 7.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Advanced Energy’s earnings: a P/E of 40.3x against 32.2x for MKS Instruments.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Advanced Energy
AEIS
4/11
Revenue growthNet marginReturn on capitalNet debt / EBITDA
MKS Instruments
MKSI
6/11
5-year growthGross marginOperating marginFCF marginReturn on equityShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | AEIS FY25 | MKSI FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $9.2B | $14.7B |
| Revenue | $1.8B | $3.9B |
| Free cash flow | $126M | $497M |
| Net income | $148M | $295M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 21.4% | 9.6% |
| 5-year growth | 4.9% | 11.0% |
| Share count change | 2.1% | 0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 37.7% | 46.7% |
| Operating margin | 9.3% | 13.4% |
| Net margin | 8.3% | 7.5% |
| FCF margin | 7.0% | 12.6% |
| Return on capital | 13.6% | 7.9% |
| Return on equity | 11.6% | 11.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$224M | $3.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.0x | 4.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $45.8M | $104M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 40.3x | 32.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.