Keysight Technologies vs Novanta
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Keysight Technologies and Novanta side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Keysight Technologies is the larger business, with $5.4B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $981M for Novanta, about 5.5 times as much.
- Keysight Technologies grew revenue faster (8.0%, against 3.3%).
- Keysight Technologies kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (16.3% operating margin, against 9.6%).
- Keysight Technologies turned more of its sales into free cash flow (23.8% FCF margin, against 4.9%).
- Keysight Technologies earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (12.1%, against 6.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Novanta’s earnings: a P/E of 89.7x against 44.7x for Keysight Technologies.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Keysight Technologies
KEYS
9/11
Revenue growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreShare count change
Novanta
NOVT
2/11
5-year growthNet debt / EBITDA
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | KEYS FY25 | NOVT FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $56.4B | $5.8B |
| Revenue | $5.4B | $981M |
| Free cash flow | $1.3B | $48.4M |
| Net income | $850M | $53.8M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.0% | 3.3% |
| 5-year growth | 5.0% | 10.7% |
| Share count change | −1.1% | 1.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 62.1% | 44.4% |
| Operating margin | 16.3% | 9.6% |
| Net margin | 15.8% | 5.5% |
| FCF margin | 23.8% | 4.9% |
| Return on capital | 12.1% | 6.5% |
| Return on equity | 15.5% | 5.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $661M | −$127M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.6x | −0.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $375M | $39.3M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 44.7x | 89.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 5 |
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.