MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Updates Q3 2026 Earnings Guidance

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) updated its third quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 3.270-3.890 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 3.170. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.3 billion-$1.4 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.2 billion.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MKSI. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of MKS from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.71.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI traded down $21.79 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $291.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,808,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,409,271. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.94, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $348.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.38. MKS has a 12-month low of $95.54 and a 12-month high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The business’s revenue was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that MKS will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Edward Williams sold 457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total transaction of $131,757.67. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,181,494.38. The trade was a 10.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 54,406 shares of company stock valued at $17,577,866 in the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MKS News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham raised its price target to $390 from $360 and upgraded its view to “Buy,” implying substantial upside from recent trading levels. Benzinga analyst rating article
• Positive Sentiment: MKS exceeded second-quarter expectations: adjusted earnings were $3.30 per share versus a consensus estimate near $2.91-$2.94, while revenue reached $1.25 billion compared with expectations of approximately $1.20 billion. Revenue increased 28.3% year over year, supported by broad end-market growth and improved margins. Zacks Q2 earnings article
• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter guidance was above analyst estimates. MKS forecast earnings of $3.27-$3.89 per share and revenue of $1.3-$1.4 billion, exceeding consensus estimates of $3.17 per share and $1.2 billion in revenue. Zacks MKS earnings beat article
• Neutral Sentiment: MKS maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.25 per share, or $1.00 annualized, representing a modest yield of approximately 0.3%. The payout provides some shareholder support but is unlikely to be a major stock-price catalyst. MKS second-quarter financial results
• Negative Sentiment: Insider trading data showed selling without reported purchases: executives and directors collectively made numerous open-market sales over the past six months. Although some transactions were conducted under pre-arranged trading plans, the activity may weigh on sentiment, particularly as MKSI trades at an elevated valuation relative to its recent earnings base.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in MKS by 2,170.2% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 133,036 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $21,259,000 after acquiring an additional 127,176 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of MKS by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 10,968 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 3,555 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter worth about $701,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $674,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

About MKS

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.