ACLS vs LRCX vs ONTO Stock Comparison

Axcelis Technologies, Lam Research and Onto Innovation Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ACLS Axcelis Technologies Inc
$113.64 -7.7% 1M +36.5% 1Y
Market cap
$3.50B
P/E
37.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$866.07M
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Equipment Technology
LRCX Lam Research Corp
$240.85 -23.6% 1M +53.5% 1Y
Market cap
$313.38B
P/E
37.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$26.13B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Equipment Technology
8 wins
ONTO Onto Innovation Inc.
$214.16 -25.5% 1M +59.5% 1Y
Market cap
$10.80B
P/E
81.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.12B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Equipment Technology
1 win

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Lam Research leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Lam Research 8, Onto Innovation 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACLSLRCXONTOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.50B $313.38B $10.80B LRCX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 37.7x 37.1x 81.4x LRCX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.9x 23.8x 25.4x LRCX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -3.3% +33.4% +8.1% LRCX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.7% 32.3% 11.8% LRCX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 49.6% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.4x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +36.5% +53.5% +59.5% ONTO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +16.1%/yr +33.6%/yr +22.4%/yr LRCX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 69.7% 65.6% 72.2% LRCX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 67/100 60/100 LRCX

Percentile Scorecard

ACLSLRCXONTO

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisACLSLRCXONTO
Valuation 71 #28 of 94 52 #46 of 94 61 #37 of 94
Growth 4 #88 of 92 85 #15 of 92 31 #64 of 92
Profitability 46 #49 of 90 94 #6 of 90 58 #38 of 90
Financial Health 63 #37 of 99 43 #57 of 99 57 #43 of 99
Shareholder Returns 89 #9 of 73 61 #29 of 73 94 #5 of 73
Overall 55 67 60
  • ACLS ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • LRCX ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • ONTO ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodACLSLRCXONTOSPY
1 month -7.7%-23.6%-25.5% -0.2%
3 months -5.3%-10.7%-11.5% +3.9%
6 months -15.2%-4.1%-24.2% +8.2%
Year to date +41.4%+40.7%+35.7% +12.9%
1 year +36.5%+53.5%+59.5% +12.3%
3 years -17.7%+312.4%+86.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year -6.3%+60.4%+23.1% +23.3%
5 years +110.5%+325.5%+174.6% +67.9%
5 years, per year +16.1%+33.6%+22.4% +10.9%
10 years +754.4%+2,390.7%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +23.9%+37.9%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureACLSLRCXONTOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 69.7%65.6%72.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 71.3%65.0%73.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.803.253.17 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.520.820.82 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -78.8%-56.8%-62.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -40.7%-44.4%-43.4% -1.2%
52-week high $191.60$433.33$378.45 $779.14
52-week low $74.12$139.59$124.09 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleACLSLRCXONTO
P/E now vs peer median 37.7xmedian 45.6x 35.7xmedian 45.6x 79.8xmedian 45.6x
P/S now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 7.7x 11.5xmedian 7.7x 9.4xmedian 7.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 29.0xmedian 29.0x 29.4xmedian 29.0x 39.5xmedian 29.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 53.5xmedian 40.6x 46.0xmedian 40.6x 41.6xmedian 40.6x
P/B now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 4.6x 21.6xmedian 4.6x 5.5xmedian 4.6x
PEG now vs peer median -1.73median 2.28 1.14median 2.28 -9.07median 2.28

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsACLSLRCXONTO
Revenue $866.07M $26.13B $1.12B
Gross profit $372.51M $13.34B $564.06M
Operating income $89.42M $9.65B $134.61M
Net income $92.79M $8.45B $132.61M
Free cash flow $65.55M $6.54B $252.47M
R&D $112.26M $2.47B $142.63M
EPS (diluted) $2.98 $6.73 $2.67
Cash & equivalents $155.00M $7.44B $1.25B
Total debt – $16.44B –
Shares (diluted) 31.13M 1.26B 49.68M
Enterprise value $1.91B $289.43B $6.64B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricACLSLRCXONTO
P/E 37.7x 35.7x 79.8x
P/FCF 53.5x 46.0x 41.6x
P/Operating cash flow 46.6x 39.7x 39.4x
P/S 4.1x 11.5x 9.4x
P/B 3.3x 21.6x 5.5x
P/Tangible book 3.3x 21.6x 6.3x
EV/EBITDA 29.0x 29.4x 39.5x
EV/EBIT 34.7x 30.8x 64.0x
EV/Revenue 3.6x 11.4x 7.7x
EV/FCF 47.4x 45.5x 34.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 41.3x 39.2x 32.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.73 1.14 -9.07

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACLSLRCXONTO
Revenue growth (1Y) -3.3% 33.4% 8.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.4% 18.2% 7.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -7.4% 38.1% 5.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -5.2% 23.4% 5.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) -44.0% 49.3% -29.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -26.4% 29.0% -8.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -41.5% 45.4% -33.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -23.4% 28.6% -8.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -40.0% 47.0% -34.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -21.8% 31.1% -8.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -45.5% 18.7% -2.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -33.3% 15.3% 17.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -46.5% 17.8% 5.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -35.2% 13.2% 22.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACLSLRCXONTO
Gross margin 43.0% 51.1% 50.4%
EBITDA margin 12.4% 38.7% 19.5%
Operating margin 10.3% 37.0% 12.0%
Pretax margin 12.3% 37.2% 14.1%
Net margin 10.7% 32.3% 11.8%
FCF margin 7.6% 25.0% 22.5%
Operating cash flow margin 8.7% 29.0% 23.8%
Return on equity 8.8% 64.1% 6.5%
Return on assets 6.7% 33.9% 4.4%
Return on invested capital – 49.6% –
Return on capital employed 7.6% 54.8% 4.8%
Asset turnover 0.6x 1.0x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.8x 0.9x 2.0x
Stock comp / revenue 2.5% 1.5% 2.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACLSLRCXONTO
Debt / assets – 14.2% –
Debt / equity – 0.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.4x –
Debt / FCF – 0.6x –
Liabilities / assets 23.1% 47.2% 48.0%
Equity / assets 76.9% 52.8% 52.0%
Interest coverage 17.2x – –
Current ratio 4.9x 2.5x 9.7x
Quick ratio 2.8x 1.8x 8.2x
Cash ratio 2.0x 1.0x 6.9x
Altman Z-score 8.61 19.18 5.06

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACLSLRCXONTO
Dividend yield – 0.5% –
Net buyback yield 1.6% 1.2% 1.8%
Shareholder yield 1.6% 1.7% 1.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusACLSLRCXONTO
Forward P/E 26.9xFY2026 23.8xFY2027 25.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.22FY2026 $10.12FY2027 $8.42FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -13.5%FY2026 +73.9%FY2027 +70.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +18.7% +12.6% +43.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $920.94MFY2026 $32.96BFY2027 $1.37BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.8%FY2026 +41.9%FY2027 +35.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.6% +25.0% +41.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACLSLRCXONTO
Held by institutions 100.0% 85.6% 98.3%
Institutions holding 441 3,131 688
Change in shares held, QoQ -5.0% +6.2% +2.3%
Institutions buying 234 1,695 376
Institutions selling 142 1,163 232
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.46 1.62

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ACLSLRCXONTO
ACLS 1.00 0.71 0.71
LRCX 0.71 1.00 0.83
ONTO 0.71 0.83 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACLS, LRCX and ONTO?

Lam Research (LRCX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) $3.50B, Lam Research (LRCX) $313.38B, Onto Innovation (ONTO) $10.80B.

Which stock is cheaper, ACLS, LRCX and ONTO?

Lam Research (LRCX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) 37.7x, Lam Research (LRCX) 37.1x, Onto Innovation (ONTO) 81.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lam Research (LRCX) is cheapest (Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) 26.9x, Lam Research (LRCX) 23.8x, Onto Innovation (ONTO) 25.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Lam Research (LRCX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) -3.3%, Lam Research (LRCX) +33.4%, Onto Innovation (ONTO) +8.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Lam Research (LRCX) has the highest net margin (Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) 10.7%, Lam Research (LRCX) 32.3%, Onto Innovation (ONTO) 11.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Onto Innovation (ONTO) returned the most: Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) +36.5%, Lam Research (LRCX) +53.5%, Onto Innovation (ONTO) +59.5%. Over five years, Lam Research (LRCX) compounded fastest (Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) +16.1%/yr, Lam Research (LRCX) +33.6%/yr, Onto Innovation (ONTO) +22.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Lam Research (LRCX) has been the steadiest (Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) 69.7%, Lam Research (LRCX) 65.6%, Onto Innovation (ONTO) 72.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACLS, LRCX and ONTO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Lam Research (LRCX) leads on 8. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.