MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Releases Q1 2026 Earnings Guidance

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) updated its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided EPS guidance of 1.720-2.280 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 1.880. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.0 billion-$1.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.0 billion.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKSI has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on MKS from $180.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MKS from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $260.00 price target on MKS in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.50.

MKS Price Performance

MKS stock traded up $2.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $262.94. The company had a trading volume of 3,494,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,651,667. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 1.81. MKS has a 12-month low of $54.84 and a 12-month high of $269.91. The company has a market capitalization of $17.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.24.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.22. MKS had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 7.25%.MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MKS will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS’s payout ratio is presently 24.27%.

Insider Activity at MKS

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total value of $47,643.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,011,514.03. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of MKS by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 267,421 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $21,434,000 after buying an additional 9,170 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MKS by 63.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in MKS by 3,545.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,036,000 after acquiring an additional 137,392 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its position in shares of MKS by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 29,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 5,430 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MKS Company Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) designs, manufactures and markets technology solutions that enable advanced processes in a variety of high‐technology and industrial markets. The company’s core offerings include vacuum and gas delivery systems, pressure and flow measurement instruments, optical metrology tools, photonics subsystems and critical components for manufacturing processes. These products support the precise control and monitoring needs of semiconductor, industrial manufacturing, life and health sciences, and research applications.

The company’s product portfolio features mass flow controllers, pressure transducers, vacuum gauges, gas purity monitors, laser-based metrology systems and photonic devices such as lasers and detectors.