MKS Inc. (MKSI) DCF Valuation & Fundamental Primer
MKS Inc. (MKSI) currently trades at $167.72 with an enterprise value of $8.09B. Our proprietary institutional model rates MKS Inc. at 63/100 (Grade: B · Mixed Fundamental Profile). The current market price prices in an implied 5-year revenue CAGR of 27.8% vs. historical growth of 11.4% (Aggressive Growth Expectations Priced In).
Institutional fundamental teardown of MKS Inc. (MKSI) covering SEC 10-K/10-Q cash flow conversion, SBC dilution friction, and Reverse-DCF valuation hurdles.
MKS Inc. (MKSI) 3-Scenario DCF Valuation Range
Stress-test MKSI's 5-year growth, target FCF margin, WACC, terminal methodology, and SBC/dilution friction in real time.
Split between 5-Year Explicit Cash Flows and Discounted Terminal Value
2D Institutional Valuation Sensitivity Heatmap
Implied share price & upside/downside spread across 25 valuation states (Current Price: $167.72).
| WACC \ Terminal | 1.5% | 2.0% | 2.5% | 3.0% | 3.5% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.5% | $75.77 -55% | $84.05 -50% | $93.71 -44% | $105.12 -37% | $118.82 -29% |
| 9.3% | $62.26 -63% | $68.78 -59% | $76.27 -55% | $84.96 -49% | $95.16 -43% |
| 10.0% | $51.15 -70% | $56.39 -66% | $62.34 -63% | $69.13 -59% | $76.97 -54% |
| 10.8% | $41.85 -75% | $46.14 -72% | $50.95 -70% | $56.38 -66% | $62.55 -63% |
| 11.5% | $33.96 -80% | $37.52 -78% | $41.47 -75% | $45.89 -73% | $50.85 -70% |
Institutional Software Quality Scorecard (63/100 · Grade B)
Viable recurring software business but carries notable dilution, lower margins, or higher leverage.
Solid cash generation with minor working capital absorption
Minimal dilution friction; management compensation aligned with shareholders
Sub-par gross margins; higher cost of delivery or hardware/services mix
Moderate leverage or cash burn; monitor liquidity runway
Core Investment Strengths & Moats
- Low dilution friction: SBC is only 1.3% of revenue
Key Operational & Dilution Risks
- Lower software gross margins (47.6%), indicating higher hosting or service delivery drag
Reverse-DCF Solver: What Growth is Priced Into MKSI?
The current share price demands 27.8% 5-year CAGR (29.6% net of SBC & dilution)—a +16.4% acceleration over historical run-rate (11.4%). Any growth slowdown risks valuation multiple contraction.
Headline Reverse-DCF ignores Stock-Based Compensation (1.3% of revenue) and annual share dilution (0.2%/yr). Accounting for both requires 29.6% 5-year revenue CAGR to justify $167.72/sh on a true per-share economic cash flow basis.
MKS Inc. (MKSI) 5-Year Fundamental Forecast
| Statement Line Item | TTM Audited Base | TTM | Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | Y4 | Y5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3.59B | $3.59B | $3.99B | $4.45B | $4.95B | $5.52B | $6.15B |
| Gross Profit | $1.71B | $1.71B | $1.90B | $2.12B | $2.36B | $2.63B | $2.93B |
| Operating Income (EBIT) | $498.0M | $498.1M | $554.8M | $617.9M | $688.2M | $766.6M | $853.8M |
| Stock-Based Compensation (SBC) | $48.0M | $48.1M | $53.5M | $59.6M | $66.4M | $74.0M | $82.4M |
| Unlevered Free Cash Flow (FCF) | $410.0M | $409.9M | $456.5M | $508.5M | $566.3M | $630.8M | $702.6M |
| SBC-Adjusted True Cash Flow | $362.0M | $361.8M | $403.0M | $448.9M | $499.9M | $556.8M | $620.2M |
Software & Cloud Services Peer Comparables & Rule of 40 Regression
Rule of 40 vs. EV / Revenue Multiple Regression
OLS Fit: EV/Rev = -8.0 + 0.40 × (Rule of 40) · R² = 62%Stocks below the gold regression line trade at a discount relative to their Rule of 40 compounding efficiency.
| Company | Ticker | Market Cap | TTM Revenue | Gross Margin | FCF Margin | Rule of 40 | SBC % Rev | EV / Rev |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MKS Inc. | MKSI | $11.27B | $3.59B | 47.6% | 11.4% | 22.8% | 1.3% | 4.2× |
| ServiceNow | NOW | $152.61B | $10.98B | 79.2% | 31.1% | 54.2% | 15.9% | 13.9× |
| Workday, Inc. | WDAY | $50.35B | $8.00B | 75.0% | 27.4% | 43.9% | 19.0% | 6.4× |
| Salesforce | CRM | $217.10B | $37.90B | 77.2% | 32.8% | 42.8% | 8.4% | 5.8× |
| Datadog | DDOG | $46.05B | $2.68B | 80.8% | 31.1% | 57.7% | 21.3% | 17.4× |
| Snowflake Inc. | SNOW | $71.79B | $3.63B | 66.5% | 25.2% | 57.7% | 40.8% | 20.0× |
| Hubspot | HUBS | $19.89B | $2.63B | 85.0% | 21.3% | 52.7% | 19.2% | 7.7× |
| Peer Cohort Median Benchmark (N=6) | 78.2% | 29.2% | 53.5% | 19.1% | 10.8× | |||
EV / Revenue Multiple Compression Stress Test
| Multiple Scenario | EV / Revenue | Implied Enterprise Value | Implied Equity Value | Implied Share Price | Delta vs Current |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Multiple | 4.2× | $15.15B | $11.27B | $167.72 | 0.0% |
| -20% Multiple Compression | 3.4× | $12.12B | $8.23B | $122.60 | -20.0% |
| -35% Multiple Compression | 2.7× | $9.85B | $5.96B | $88.76 | -35.0% |
| Software Baseline Floor (5.0× EV/Rev) | 5.0× | $17.93B | $14.04B | $209.06 | +18.3% |
Frequently Asked Questions: MKS Inc. (MKSI) Valuation
What is MKS Inc. (MKSI)'s intrinsic DCF valuation and implied share price?
Based on audited SEC 10-K/10-Q filings and a 5-year 3-statement discounted cash flow (DCF) model, MKS Inc. (MKSI) has a Base Case implied value of $62.56 per share (with a Bear Case of $3.60 and a Bull Case of $134.99), compared to its current price of $167.72. The model discounts projected free cash flows at a 10.0% WACC and a 2.5% terminal growth rate.
What is MKS Inc. (MKSI)'s Rule of 40 score and Free Cash Flow margin?
MKS Inc. achieves a Rule of 40 score of 22.8%, combining a 11.4% revenue growth run-rate with a 11.4% TTM free cash flow margin on $3.59B in trailing twelve-month revenue. In the Software & Cloud Services peer cohort, the median Rule of 40 benchmark is 53.5%.
What revenue growth rate is priced into MKSI stock according to Reverse-DCF analysis?
At $167.72 per share (Enterprise Value of $15.15B), our Reverse-DCF solver indicates the market is pricing in a 5-year implied revenue CAGR of 27.8%, compared to MKS Inc.'s historical CAGR of 11.4%. Overall market expectations are rated as "Aggressive Growth Expectations Priced In".
How does MKS Inc. compare to Software & Cloud Services software peers?
MKS Inc. (MKSI) earns an institutional Software Quality Score of 63/100 (Grade B — Mixed Fundamental Profile). Across its Software & Cloud Services peer group (NOW, WDAY, CRM, DDOG, SNOW), the cohort trades at a median EV/TTM Revenue multiple of 10.8× and a median gross margin of 78.2%.
How does Stock-Based Compensation (SBC) impact MKS Inc. (MKSI)'s valuation?
MKS Inc. recorded $48.0M in TTM stock-based compensation (1.3% of revenue). When treating SBC as a cash-equivalent compensation expense, MKS Inc.'s SBC-adjusted free cash flow yield is 3.2%, scoring 25/25 on our Shareholder Dilution Friction pillar.
