Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) and MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Head-To-Head Survey

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) and MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) are both technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Ultra Clean and MKS, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ultra Clean	1	1	6	0	2.62
MKS	1	2	11	1	2.80

Ultra Clean currently has a consensus target price of $114.00, suggesting a potential upside of 177.17%. MKS has a consensus target price of $366.77, suggesting a potential upside of 90.76%. Given Ultra Clean’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Ultra Clean is more favorable than MKS.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.1% of Ultra Clean shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of MKS shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Ultra Clean shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of MKS shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Ultra Clean has a beta of 1.9, indicating that its stock price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MKS has a beta of 2.14, indicating that its stock price is 114% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ultra Clean and MKS”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ultra Clean	$2.05 billion	0.96	-$181.20 million	$0.57	72.16
MKS	$3.93 billion	3.31	$295.00 million	$8.43	22.81

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ultra Clean	1.09%	12.00%	4.76%
MKS	12.64%	28.77%	9.51%

Summary

MKS beats Ultra Clean on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ultra Clean

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. develops and supplies critical subsystems, components and parts, and ultra-high purity cleaning and analytical services for the semiconductor industry in the United States and internationally. The company provides ultra-clean valves, high purity connectors, industrial process connectors and valves, pneumatic actuators, manifolds and safety solutions, hoses, pressure gauges, and gas line and component heaters; chemical delivery modules that deliver gases and reactive chemicals in a liquid or gaseous form from a centralized subsystem to the reaction chamber; and gas delivery systems, such as weldments, filters, mass flow controllers, regulators, pressure transducers and valves, component heaters, and an integrated electronic and/or pneumatic control system. It also offers various industrial and automation production equipment; fluid delivery systems consist of one or more chemical delivery units, including PFA tubing, filters, flow controllers, regulators, component heaters, and an integrated electronic and/or pneumatic control system; precision robotic systems; top-plate assemblies; frame assemblies; process modules, a subsystem of semiconductor manufacturing tools that process integrated circuits onto wafers; and other high-level assemblies. In addition, the company provides tool chamber parts cleaning and coating services; micro-contamination analysis services for tool parts, wafers and depositions, chemicals, cleanroom materials, deionized water, and airborne molecular contamination; and analytical verification services for process tool chamber part cleaning. It primarily serves original equipment manufacturing customers in the semiconductor capital equipment and semiconductor integrated device manufacturing industries, as well as display, consumer, medical, energy, industrial, and research equipment industries. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Hayward, California.

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.