COHR vs KN Stock Comparison

Coherent and Knowles Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
COHR Coherent Corp.
$209.24 -30.3% 1M +72.2% 1Y
Market cap
$39.71B
P/E
49.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.12B
Div. yield
0.00%
Electronic Components Technology
7 wins
KN Knowles Corp
$32.20 -12.4% 1M +34.1% 1Y
Market cap
$2.81B
P/E
41.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$635.00M
Div. yield
–
Electronic Components Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Coherent leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Coherent 7, Knowles 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCOHRKNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $39.71B $2.81B COHR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 49.3x 41.6x KN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.4x 23.7x COHR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +22.5% +12.8% COHR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.3% 10.6% COHR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -23.3% 8.6% KN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.6x COHR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +72.2% +34.1% COHR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +29.0%/yr +10.2%/yr COHR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 89.0% 41.1% KN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 39/100 61/100 KN

Percentile Scorecard

COHRKN

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

AxisCOHRKN
Valuation 21 #89 of 112 46 #61 of 112
Growth 57 #47 of 109 68 #36 of 109
Profitability 30 #74 of 105 67 #35 of 105
Financial Health 43 #67 of 117 59 #49 of 117
Shareholder Returns 44 #46 of 82 68 #27 of 82
Overall 39 61
  • COHR ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware
  • KN ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCOHRKNSPY
1 month -30.3%-12.4% -1.0%
3 months -26.0%-14.4% +2.9%
6 months -37.7%+5.2% +6.4%
Year to date +13.4%+50.3% +11.4%
1 year +72.2%+34.1% +13.1%
3 years +567.2%+139.2% +79.4%
3 years, per year +88.3%+33.8% +21.5%
5 years +256.8%+62.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year +29.0%+10.2% +10.9%
10 years +700.2%+117.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year +23.1%+8.1% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCOHRKNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 89.0%41.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 94.0%42.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.481.85 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.810.83 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -62.9%-49.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -51.0%-24.8% -2.5%
52-week high $426.89$42.80 $779.14
52-week low $121.52$20.67 $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.

MultipleCOHRKN
P/E now vs peer median 46.1xmedian 31.3x 40.9xmedian 31.3x
P/S now vs peer median 5.8xmedian 2.6x 4.3xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -13.7xmedian 19.6x 21.5xmedian 19.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median -40.0xmedian 28.3x 168.7xmedian 28.3x
P/B now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 2.9x 3.5xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 0.91median 1.15 1.24median 1.15

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 monthsCOHRKN
Revenue $7.12B $635.00M
Gross profit $2.67B $284.10M
Operating income -$3.60B $92.20M
Net income $800.94M $67.50M
Free cash flow -$1.02B $16.30M
R&D $722.95M $42.80M
EPS (diluted) $4.12 $0.77
Cash & equivalents $1.16B $49.60M
Total debt $3.22B $352.00M
Shares (diluted) 195.39M 87.90M
Enterprise value $33.59B $2.57B

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
MetricCOHRKN
P/E 46.1x 40.9x
P/FCF -40.0x 168.7x
P/Operating cash flow 515.3x 29.6x
P/S 5.8x 4.3x
P/B 3.6x 3.5x
P/Tangible book 4.9x 4.2x
EV/EBITDA -13.7x 21.5x
EV/EBIT -11.7x 30.7x
EV/Revenue 5.9x 4.5x
EV/FCF -41.2x 173.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 530.9x 30.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.91 1.24

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCOHRKN
Revenue growth (1Y) 22.5% 12.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 11.3% 16.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 30.6% 19.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 18.1% 13.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.9% 74.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 2.6% -32.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 1,623% 172.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 72.0% 32.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 891.4% 171.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 50.4% 33.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -87.5% -19.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -49.9% 15.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -630.9% -78.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -92.8% 1.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCOHRKN
Gross margin 37.5% 44.7%
EBITDA margin -43.3% 20.7%
Operating margin -50.6% 14.5%
Pretax margin 11.9% 13.5%
Net margin 11.3% 10.6%
FCF margin -14.4% 2.6%
Operating cash flow margin 1.1% 14.6%
Return on equity 7.1% 8.6%
Return on assets 4.4% 6.3%
Return on invested capital -23.3% 8.6%
Return on capital employed -24.1% 9.6%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.1x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 2.6% 4.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCOHRKN
Debt / assets 17.6% 12.2%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.6x
Debt / FCF -3.1x 8.0x
Liabilities / assets 38.6% 26.1%
Equity / assets 61.4% 73.9%
Interest coverage -18.9x –
Current ratio 2.4x 3.2x
Quick ratio 1.2x 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 3.59 6.30

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCOHRKN
Dividend yield – –
Net buyback yield -5.0% 1.5%
Shareholder yield -5.0% 1.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 1.4% –
Payout ratio (FCF) -1.1% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -25.4% –

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.

ConsensusCOHRKN
Forward P/E 23.4xFY2027 23.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.96FY2027 $1.36FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +59.7%FY2027 +22.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +61.7% +22.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $11.19BFY2027 $689.72MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +57.1%FY2027 +16.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +37.8% +10.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCOHRKN
Held by institutions 86.7% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,309 340
Change in shares held, QoQ -3.1% +0.5%
Institutions buying 840 198
Institutions selling 359 93
Buyers to sellers 2.34 2.13

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.

COHRKN
COHR 1.00 0.66
KN 0.66 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, COHR and KN?

Coherent (COHR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Coherent (COHR) $39.71B, Knowles (KN) $2.81B.

Which stock is cheaper, COHR and KN?

Knowles (KN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Coherent (COHR) 49.3x, Knowles (KN) 41.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Coherent (COHR) is cheapest (Coherent (COHR) 23.4x, Knowles (KN) 23.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Coherent (COHR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Coherent (COHR) +22.5%, Knowles (KN) +12.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Coherent (COHR) has the highest net margin (Coherent (COHR) 11.3%, Knowles (KN) 10.6%). On return on invested capital, Knowles (KN) leads (Coherent (COHR) -23.3%, Knowles (KN) 8.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Coherent (COHR) returned the most: Coherent (COHR) +72.2%, Knowles (KN) +34.1%. Over five years, Coherent (COHR) compounded fastest (Coherent (COHR) +29.0%/yr, Knowles (KN) +10.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Coherent (COHR) 0.00%, Knowles (KN) 0.00%. Knowles (KN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Knowles (KN) has been the steadiest (Coherent (COHR) 89.0%, Knowles (KN) 41.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do COHR and KN move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.66, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, COHR and KN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Coherent (COHR) leads on 7. 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.