Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) Competitors

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) and Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and media sentiment.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MKSI or ACLS?

Axcelis Technologies received 12 more outperform votes than MKS Instruments when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 71.60% of users gave MKS Instruments an outperform vote while only 71.48% of users gave Axcelis Technologies an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
MKS Instruments	Outperform Votes 547 71.60%	Underperform Votes 217 28.40%
Axcelis Technologies	Outperform Votes 559 71.48%	Underperform Votes 223 28.52%

Do analysts prefer MKSI or ACLS?

MKS Instruments presently has a consensus price target of $141.75, suggesting a potential upside of 18.02%. Axcelis Technologies has a consensus price target of $155.83, suggesting a potential upside of 117.61%. Given Axcelis Technologies' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Axcelis Technologies is more favorable than MKS Instruments.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MKS Instruments	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.85
Axcelis Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of MKSI or ACLS?

99.8% of MKS Instruments shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of Axcelis Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of MKS Instruments shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Axcelis Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, MKSI or ACLS?

MKS Instruments has a beta of 1.66, suggesting that its share price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Axcelis Technologies has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is MKSI or ACLS more profitable?

Axcelis Technologies has a net margin of 20.65% compared to MKS Instruments' net margin of 0.90%. Axcelis Technologies' return on equity of 24.16% beat MKS Instruments' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MKS Instruments	0.90%	15.79%	4.19%
Axcelis Technologies	20.65%	24.16%	17.03%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, MKSI or ACLS?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MKS Instruments	$3.62B	2.23	-$1.84B	$0.45	266.91
Axcelis Technologies	$1.08B	2.16	$246.26M	$6.76	10.59

Does the media refer more to MKSI or ACLS?

In the previous week, MKS Instruments had 3 more articles in the media than Axcelis Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for MKS Instruments and 6 mentions for Axcelis Technologies. MKS Instruments' average media sentiment score of 0.59 beat Axcelis Technologies' score of 0.09 indicating that MKS Instruments is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
MKS Instruments	4 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Axcelis Technologies	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

MKS Instruments beats Axcelis Technologies on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.