Loading…
Maker of MEMS microphones, acoustic components and precision capacitors for consumer electronics, medical and defense.
Maker of MEMS microphones, acoustic components and precision capacitors for consumer electronics, medical and defense.
Sells parts designed into customers' devices, so on the consumer side revenue depends on a few large phone makers' product cycles, while the precision devices side supplies medical, defense and industrial customers on longer, steadier programmes.
Moat: narrow (IP / patents, process know-how, switching costs). Deep design-in relationships and acoustic/MEMS IP built over years with device makers.
Headquarters: Itasca, Illinois, US · Founded: 1946 · Employees: 5,200
Size Knowles (KN) is a United States Information Technology company (Electronic Components) with a market value of $2.65B, the 1620th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $31.27 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 11.4%, against -24.0% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 6th highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 16.1% over the last twelve months (peer median +20.6%); the operating margin is 14.8% (peer median 13.0%).
Valuation It trades at 19.1× forward earnings against a peer median of 25.6× (8th cheapest of 19).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 26% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is -5%, so the hurdle is +31 pp: the price needs faster growth than the company has been delivering — of companies that just grew 25–50% a year, 93.8% slowed down over the next four years.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 3.8 points below its cost of capital (12.5% WACC).
Short interest Short interest is 5.0% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 10 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $666M | $593M | $554M | $457M | $765M |
| Revenue growth | — | +7% | +21% | -40% | — |
| Gross profit | $280M | $244M | $221M | $200M | $301M |
| EBITDA | $136M | $114M | $94.3M | $75.6M | $156M |
| Net income | $72.1M | $47.0M | -$240M | $72.4M | -$430M |
| Free cash flow | $79.4M | $81.9M | $116M | $106M | $54.2M |
| Capital expenditure | $39.9M | $32.1M | $13.6M | $17.2M | $32.1M |
| Total debt | $134M | $135M | $213M | $287M | $64.5M |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knowles KN | $2.65B | -11% | +16% | 15% | 19.1× | 26.3% |
| Cirrus Logic CRUS | $5.69B | -34% | +6% | 23% | 16.9× | 1.5% |
| STM STM | $41.0B | -29% | +16% | 7% | 17.3× | 38.6% |
| Bel Fuse BELFA | $2.87B | -38% | +21% | 17% | 13.5× | 18.0% |
| GoerTek 002241.SZ | $13.1B | 0% | -3% | 2% | 25.5× | n/a |
| AAC Technologies 2018.HK | $5.60B | -4% | +16% | 8% | 13.8× | 1.2% |
| Infineon Technologies IFX.DE | $66.8B | -33% | +6% | 13% | 26.0× | 30.2% |
| Tdk 6762.T | $25.4B | -27% | +25% | 10% | 15.0× | 18.2% |
| Murata Manufacturing 6981.T | $57.1B | -5% | +15% | 20% | 23.0× | 29.8% |
| Vishay Intertechnology VSH | $3.57B | -32% | +18% | 5% | 13.2× | 18.8% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | KN | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | -15.8% | -18.7% | 9th highest of 21 |
| 6-month return | -11.4% | -24.0% | 6th highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -27.2% | -47.4% | 3rd highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +16.1% | +20.6% | 9th lowest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 14.8% | 13.0% | 9th highest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 19.1× | 25.6× | 8th cheapest of 19 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 26.3% | 15.3% | 4th most demanding of 12 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | -4.9% | +10.0% | lowest of 12 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | +31.2 pp | -0.8 pp | 2nd most demanding of 12 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | -3.8 pp | -1.3 pp | 6th lowest of 21 |
| EV / EBITDA | 20.1× | 13.7× | 3rd most expensive of 7 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.6× | -1.9× | 3rd most indebted of 8 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knowles KN | United States | $2.65B | -11% | +16% | 15% | 19.1× | 26.3% | -4.9% |
| Shenzhen JOVE Enterprise 300814.SZ | China | $2.65B | -14% | +44% | 7% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Primarius Technologies 688206.SS | China | $2.63B | -2% | +30% | -9% | 331.6× | n/a | n/a |
| FIT Hon Teng 6088.HK | Hong Kong | $2.63B | -67% | +11% | 5% | 10.5× | n/a | n/a |
| Daeduck Electronics 353200.KS | South Korea | $2.61B | -37% | +56% | 16% | 15.0× | 15.3% | +11.8% |
| INESA Intelligent Tech 600602.SS | China | $2.60B | -31% | -2% | 2% | 71.9× | 32.7% | +6.7% |
| Optowide Technologies 688195.SS | China | $2.57B | -60% | +68% | 17% | 100.1× | n/a | n/a |
| Zhejiang Lante Optics 688127.SS | China | $2.56B | -45% | +59% | 31% | 27.8× | 20.5% | +28.5% |
| MLOPTIC 688502.SS | China | $2.78B | -26% | +44% | 5% | 204.0× | n/a | n/a |
| Aoshikang Technology 002913.SZ | China | $2.52B | +2% | +25% | 10% | 34.0× | n/a | n/a |
| HONG RI DA Technology 301285.SZ | China | $2.50B | -22% | +14% | -13% | 424.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Bel Fuse BELFA | United States | $2.87B | -38% | +21% | 17% | 13.5× | 18.0% | +7.7% |
| Zhuzhou Hongda Electronics 300726.SZ | China | $2.43B | -20% | +11% | 26% | 35.2× | 27.3% | +6.1% |
| Citizen Watch 7762.T | Japan | $2.90B | +3% | +17% | 10% | 12.8× | 10.1% | +10.9% |
| China Zhenhua (Group) Science & Technology 000733.SZ | China | $2.93B | -17% | -1% | 14% | 23.3× | 4.0% | +7.8% |
| EZconn 6442.TW | Taiwan | $2.40B | -51% | +30% | 27% | 16.2× | 15.3% | +34.3% |
| Jenoptik JEN.DE | Germany | $2.30B | -21% | -2% | 12% | 18.6× | 10.3% | +11.2% |
| Xiamen Hengkun New Material Technology 688727.SS | China | $2.28B | -33% | +20% | 9% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology 002690.SZ | China | $2.25B | -3% | +3% | 31% | 18.5× | 9.2% | +10.0% |
| VisEra Technologies 6789.TW | Taiwan | $3.16B | -46% | -5% | 14% | 49.7× | 44.5% | +5.2% |
| Fulltech Fiber Glass 1815.TWO | Taiwan | $2.18B | +6% | +49% | 26% | 21.6× | n/a | n/a |