Sifting through countless of stocks in the Machinery industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in ESCO Technologies Inc. or MKS Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how ESCO Technologies Inc. and MKS Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About ESCO Technologies Inc. and MKS Inc.

ESCO Technologies Inc. provides engineered components and systems for aviation, navy, defense, and industrial customers. The Aerospace & Defense segment designs and manufactures specialty filtration products, including hydraulic filter elements and fluid control devices used in commercial and defense aerospace applications; miniature electro-explosive devices for military aircraft ejection seats and missile arming devices; manufactures and sells mission-critical bushings, pins, sleeves, and precision-tolerance machined components for landing gear, rotor heads, engine mounts, flight controls, and actuation systems for the aerospace and defense industries; designs, develops and manufactures elastomeric-based signature reduction solutions for U.S. naval vessels; and provides mission-critical signature and power management solutions. The Utility Solutions Group segment develops, manufactures, and delivers diagnostic testing solutions; and designs and manufactures decision support tools for the renewable energy industry, primarily wind and solar. The RF Test & Measurement segment designs and manufactures products and systems to measure and control RF energy for research and development, regulatory compliance, and medical and security applications; and turnkey systems, such as RF test facilities and measurement systems, acoustic test enclosures, RF and magnetically shielded rooms, and secure communication facilities. This segment also supplies RF absorptive materials, filters, antennas, field probes, test cells, proprietary measurement software, and other test accessories; and offers calibration and product tests, feedthrough capacitors, high current power, telephone, data and control line filters, and high-altitude electromagnetic protection filters. It distributes its products through distributors, sales representatives, direct sales teams, and in-house sales personnel. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is based in Saint Louis, Missouri.

MKS Inc. provides foundational technology solutions to semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial applications in the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and internationally. The company operates through Vacuum Solutions Division (VSD), Photonics Solutions Division (PSD), and Material Solutions Division (MSD) segments. Its VSD segment provides foundational technology solutions, including pressure measurement and control, flow measurement and control, gas and vapor delivery, gas composition analysis, electronic control technology, reactive gas generation and delivery, power generation and delivery, and fiber optic temperature and position sensing. The PSD segment offers range of solutions, which include lasers, photonics, optics, precision motion control, and vibration control. Its MSD segment develops, process, and manufactures technologies comprising advanced surface modification, electroless and electrolytic plating, and surface finishing for chemistry, equipment, and services markets, as well as high-technology applications. In addition, the company sells its products and services through direct sales, network of independent distributors, and sales representatives, as well as websites, including product catalogs. MKS Inc. was formerly known as MKS Instruments, Inc. and changed its name to MKS Inc. in May 2025. The company was incorporated in 1961 and is based in Andover, Massachusetts.

Latest Machinery and ESCO Technologies Inc., MKS Inc. Stock News

As of September 2, 2026, ESCO Technologies Inc. had a $6.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Machinery median of $4.0 million. ESCO Technologies Inc.’s stock is up 36.5% in 2026, down 5.3% in the previous five trading days and up 32.64% in the past year.

Currently, ESCO Technologies Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 49.5. ESCO Technologies Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.3 billion with a 24.4% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 14.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $8.357 per share for the current fiscal year. ESCO Technologies Inc. currently has a 0.1% dividend yield.

As of September 2, 2026, MKS Inc. had a $17.0 billion market cap, putting it in the 84th percentile of all stocks. MKS Inc.’s stock is up 53.9% in 2026, down 9.3% in the previous five trading days and up 146.57% in the past year.

Currently, MKS Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 39.9. MKS Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.3 billion with a 10.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 28.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $13.134 per share for the current fiscal year. MKS Inc. currently has a 0.4% dividend yield.

How We Compare ESCO Technologies Inc. and MKS Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at ESCO Technologies Inc. and MKS Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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ESCO Technologies Inc. and MKS Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
ESCO Technologies Inc.	ESE	F
MKS Inc.	MKSI	F

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

ESCO Technologies Inc. has a Value Score of 14, which is Ultra Expensive. MKS Inc. has a Value Score of 15, which is Ultra Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither ESCO Technologies Inc. or MKS Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if ESCO Technologies Inc. or MKS Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

ESCO Technologies Inc. and MKS Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
ESCO Technologies Inc.	ESE	B
MKS Inc.	MKSI	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

ESCO Technologies Inc. has a Growth Score of 77, which is Strong. MKS Inc. has a Growth Score of 82, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: MKS Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, MKS Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than ESCO Technologies Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, MKS Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

ESCO Technologies Inc. and MKS Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
ESCO Technologies Inc.	ESE	B
MKS Inc.	MKSI	A

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

ESCO Technologies Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 63, which is Positive. MKS Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 84, which is Very Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: MKS Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, MKS Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than ESCO Technologies Inc.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, MKS Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other ESCO Technologies Inc. and MKS Inc. Grades

In addition to Estimate Revisions, Value and Growth, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Quality.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether ESCO Technologies Inc. and MKS Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, ESCO Technologies Inc. or MKS Inc. Stock?

Overall, ESCO Technologies Inc. stock has a Value Score of 14, Growth Score of 77 and Estimate Revisions Score of 63.

MKS Inc. stock has a Value Score of 15, Growth Score of 82 and Estimate Revisions Score of 84.

Comparing ESCO Technologies Inc. and MKS Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.