Critical Survey: MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) versus Impinj (NASDAQ:PI)

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) and Impinj (NASDAQ:PI) are both technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.8% of MKS shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of MKS shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.8% of Impinj shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for MKS and Impinj, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MKS	1	1	13	1	2.88
Impinj	1	3	7	0	2.55

MKS presently has a consensus price target of $375.93, indicating a potential upside of 44.38%. Impinj has a consensus price target of $183.30, indicating a potential upside of 0.85%. Given MKS’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe MKS is more favorable than Impinj.

Risk and Volatility

MKS has a beta of 1.98, suggesting that its share price is 98% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Impinj has a beta of 1.92, suggesting that its share price is 92% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares MKS and Impinj’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MKS	10.15%	24.72%	7.80%
Impinj	-7.26%	5.23%	2.09%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares MKS and Impinj”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MKS	$3.93 billion	4.48	$295.00 million	$6.27	41.53
Impinj	$361.08 million	15.38	-$10.85 million	($0.92)	-197.55

MKS has higher revenue and earnings than Impinj. Impinj is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MKS, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

MKS beats Impinj on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MKS

MKS Instruments, Inc. provides foundational technology solutions to semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial applications in the United States, Germany, China, South Korea, and internationally. It operates through Vacuum Solutions Division (VSD), Photonics Solutions Division (PSD), and Material Solutions Division (MSD) segments. The VSD segment provides foundational technology solutions, including pressure measurement and control, flow measurement and control, gas and vapor delivery, gas composition analysis, electronic control technology, reactive gas generation and delivery, power generation and delivery, and vacuum technology. The PSD segment offers range of solutions, which include lasers, beam measurement and profiling, precision motion control, vibration isolation systems, photonics instruments, temperature sensing, opto-mechanical components, optical elements, systems for flexible PCB laser processing, and laser-based systems, as well as high density interconnect PCB and package manufacturing. The MSD segment develops, process, and manufactures technologies comprising advanced surface modification, electroless and electrolytic plating, and surface finishing for chemistry, equipment, software, and services markets, as well as high-technology applications. In addition, the company sells its products and services through direct sales, network of independent distributors, and sales representatives, as well as websites, including product catalogs. The company was incorporated in 1961 and is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts.

About Impinj

Impinj, Inc. operates a cloud connectivity platform in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Its platform wirelessly connects items and delivers data about the connected items to business and consumer applications. The company’s platform comprises endpoint ICs, a miniature radios-on-a-chip that attaches to a host item and includes a number to identify the item. Its platform also consists of systems products that consists of reader ICs, readers, and gateways to wirelessly provide power to and communicate bidirectionally with endpoint ICs on host items, as well as to read, write, authenticate, and engage the endpoint ICs on those items; and software and algorithms that enable its partners to solve enterprise business problems, such as retail self-checkout and loss prevention. The company primarily serves retail, supply chain and logistics, automotive, aviation, banking, datacenters, food, healthcare, industrial and manufacturing, linen and uniform tracking, sports, and travel industries through original equipment and device manufacturers, tag service bureaus, systems integrators, value-added resellers, independent software vendors, and other solution partners. Impinj, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.