Advanced Energy vs Onto Innovation

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put Advanced Energy and Onto Innovation side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

Advanced Energy is the larger business, with $1.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.0B for Onto Innovation, about 1.8 times as much.
Advanced Energy grew revenue faster (21.4%, against 1.8%).
Onto Innovation kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (13.2% operating margin, against 9.3%).
Onto Innovation turned more of its sales into free cash flow (29.8% FCF margin, against 7.0%).
Advanced Energy earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (13.6%, against 8.8%).
Investors pay more for each dollar of Onto Innovation’s earnings: a P/E of 76.5x against 41.1x for Advanced Energy.

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 growthReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-score

Onto Innovation

ONTO

7/11

5-year growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginNet debt / EBITDAShare count change

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	AEIS FY25	ONTO FY25
Size
Market cap	$9.4B	$10.1B
Revenue	$1.8B	$1.0B
Free cash flow	$126M	$300M
Net income	$148M	$137M
Growth
Revenue growth	21.4%	1.8%
5-year growth	4.9%	12.6%
Share count change	2.1%	−0.8%
Profitability
Gross margin	37.7%	49.7%
Operating margin	9.3%	13.2%
Net margin	8.3%	13.6%
FCF margin	7.0%	29.8%
Return on capital	13.6%	8.8%
Return on equity	11.6%	6.8%
Balance sheet
Net debt	−$224M	−$640M
Net debt / EBITDA	−1.0x	−3.3x
Dividends and buybacks	$45.8M	$75.0M
Valuation & quality
P/E	41.1x	76.5x
Piotroski F-score	6	4

Ten years

Revenue

FY16

AEIS $327M

ONTO $221M

FY17

AEIS $453M

ONTO $259M

FY18

AEIS $719M

ONTO $325M

FY19

AEIS $789M

ONTO $306M

FY20

AEIS $1.4B

ONTO $557M

FY21

AEIS $1.5B

ONTO $789M

FY22

AEIS $1.8B

ONTO $1.0B

FY23

AEIS $1.7B

ONTO $816M

FY24

AEIS $1.5B

ONTO $987M

FY25

AEIS $1.8B

ONTO $1.0B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

AEIS ONTO

Operating margin

FY16

AEIS 38.8%

ONTO 13.2%

FY17

AEIS 44.3%

ONTO 16.6%

FY18

AEIS 23.9%

ONTO 20.5%

FY19

AEIS 6.9%

ONTO −1.7%

FY20

AEIS 12.4%

ONTO −4.8%

FY21

AEIS 10.4%

ONTO −19.8%

FY22

AEIS 12.6%

ONTO 23.6%

FY23

AEIS 6.9%

ONTO 14.2%

FY24

AEIS 2.5%

ONTO 19.0%

FY25

AEIS 9.3%

ONTO 13.2%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

AEIS ONTO

Free cash flow

FY16

AEIS $112M

ONTO $41.7M

FY17

AEIS $174M

ONTO $15.4M

FY18

AEIS $131M

ONTO $95.9M

FY19

AEIS $23.2M

ONTO $11.3M

FY20

AEIS $165M

ONTO $102M

FY21

AEIS $111M

ONTO $163M

FY22

AEIS $125M

ONTO $118M

FY23

AEIS $148M

ONTO $149M

FY24

AEIS $74.0M

ONTO $214M

FY25

AEIS $126M

ONTO $300M

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

AEIS ONTO

Return on capital

FY16

AEIS —

ONTO 21.7%

FY17

AEIS —

ONTO 19.3%

FY18

AEIS —

ONTO 37.1%

FY19

AEIS —

ONTO −0.7%

FY20

AEIS 22.8%

ONTO −2.3%

FY21

AEIS 20.0%

ONTO −13.7%

FY22

AEIS 22.9%

ONTO 22.3%

FY23

AEIS 11.4%

ONTO 10.2%

FY24

AEIS 3.6%

ONTO 16.2%

FY25

AEIS 13.6%

ONTO 8.8%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

AEIS ONTO

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.